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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Deer Park Library will celebrate 20th anniversary at location on Nov. 8

By Nina Culver For The Spokesman-Review

The Deer Park Library will celebrate its 20th anniversary in its current home with a special after-hours celebration on Nov. 8, with live music and activities for kids.

Though the library has been in the brick building at 208 S. Forest Ave. for 20 years, its history goes back much further. Deer Park’s first library opened with donated books in 1926 in the Follevag House. In the early 1970s the Spokane County Library District would send a book mobile that parked just outside the post office.

In 1973 the library district opened the Deer Park branch inside a store front building on Main Street and spent some time at the old City Hall before moving to the basement of the current City Hall in 1980. Library Supervisor Kris Barnes worked at the library back then, starting in 1985.

“That building was built in the 1920s,” she said of City Hall. “That building was the original high school in Deer Park. My father went to high school there.”

The basement was cramped, and staff used an old jail cell as a staff room.

“It was a little musty,” Barnes said. “It certainly wasn’t the livable space it is now. This is the most beautiful building in the Spokane County Library District.”

Deer Park voters approved a bond to build a new library on donated land that used to house a hospital. The Friends of the Deer Park Library raised money to add a large meeting room to the new building while it was under construction, bringing its size to 7,185 square feet.

The books are in one large room with one end dedicated to children. A large wall of windows brings in natural light and has views of a natural park next door. The library has been popular with the community, enough so that the library often has to hold its children’s programs at the nearby elementary school, particularly in the summer.

“We have so many children, we can’t fit them in here,” Barnes said.

The library is also an official after-school snack site and has served 15,000 snacks since March 2016. “We are very much an after-school destination,” said Community Librarian Amber Williams.

The library has given back to the community in other ways. The natural park next door was overgrown when the library organized a cleanup day in 2014. “It’s become an annual event,” Williams said. “We don’t even have to plan it anymore. They just show up.”

The city changed the park’s name from Arcadia Park to Library Park in recognition of efforts to keep the trails clear and debris cleaned up.

There are 6,377 registered users at the Deer Park Library but it’s not just northern Spokane County residents who use the library. Stevens County residents frequently come in and attend programs and use the Wi-Fi even though they can’t get a card and check out books, Barnes said.

The library is also something of a community hub, offering cards to all students attending local schools. The cards allow access to all the library’s online programs. The Riverside School District doesn’t have a lot of library resources and Barnes said the library tries to fill that gap.

“We certainly provide the services we can,” Barnes said.

The library frequently partners with the schools to offer STEM nights and other activities, Barnes said. They also started a poetry slam featuring local high school students and participate in community events like Settlers Day.

Many of the library’s programs are funded by money raised by the Friends of the Deer Park Library. “They sponsor so much,” Williams said.

Given the library’s role in the community, it’s only fitting that the community has been invited to celebrate the library’s 20th anniversary. Musicians Brad Keeler and Linda Parman will perform during the celebration.

“They’re favorites here in Deer Park because they always open the Settlers (Day),” Barnes aid.

There will also be free face painting, activities for the kids and cake. The event will run from 6 to 8 p.m. on Nov. 8. Kids age 8 and under must be accompanied by an adult.