By Debby Farmer
Previous First Lady “Lady Bird” Johnson once said, “Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest.” Certainly, her words couldn’t ring more true in describing your local Blaine Library.
In this first year of the Whatcom County Library System Strategic Plan 2016-2020, the strategic initiatives highlighted by the acronym READ were brought to life in the library’s daily practice.
Parents of babies under 12 months received a free board book for registering their baby for a library card. Kids and teens earned a beautiful new book of their choice for reaching their summer reading goals. All ages enjoyed completing Bingos and blackouts on their summer reading Bingo cards, where squares designated certain genres, formats and age-level materials to be read, providing a fun way to encourage readers to discover other reading treasures.
The monthly Books and Bites book discussion programs prompted lively conversations over a wide range of topics.
Exciting new collections were added in 2016, including adult coloring kits, family board games, and American Girl Dolls. For those children needing a more nontraditional story time, a new Sensory Storytime was introduced. Needle-workers and painters began meeting regularly to enjoy creating in community. Others learned about kombucha, clothing alterations, blogging and a myriad of other popular subjects. Girl Scouts, neighborhood associations and other local organizations appreciated meeting room access.
New furniture in the adult area and an exterior repainting helped make the library more inviting to the myriad of locals and visitors coming in to utilize its resources. The friends of the library worked tirelessly to raise additional library improvement funds from the ongoing bookstore, major book sales and the wildly popular Bob Milne
concert.
While the need for additional space grows, the Blaine Library staff will continue to welcome all who come through the doors.
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