WOODLAND — As part of Woodland’s Planters Day festivities, Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries invited the public to take part in helping “plant” the community’s newest library with a groundbreaking ceremony on June 17.
The new library will be built at 411 Lakeshore Drive in Woodland. It is the fruition of a multiyear project to provide Woodland with a modern library on a new site, effectively replacing the current 1909-constructed building with a welcoming and accessible library.
Goals for the new library include offering the community a flexible learning environment for education and collaboration, offering opportunities for new community connections, and anchoring future development of the surrounding Woodland area.
In doing so, the library will encompass nearly three times as much space, approximately 7,500 square feet versus the current building’s 2,376 square feet. The new building’s features will include an exterior courtyard for programs; performances and enjoyment of library materials; a designated children’s area with spaces to read, explore and play; an adult area with a computer center, study tables and art display; study rooms for individual study or small group meetings; a teen area with laptop bar; a flexible community room for meetings, events and performances that is reservable for the public; and a bookstore for Friends of Woodland Community Library to sell gently used books.
Support for the new library comes from Friends of Woodland Community Library and the Fort Vancouver Regional Library Foundation. This project also received partial assistance from the Washington State Department of Commerce’s Library Capital Improvement Grant program.
