New Sprague Library taking shape

By Nina Culver Current contributor

People across Spokane Valley are eagerly counting the days until the doors of the brand-new Spokane Valley Library swing open to a larger, brighter space that will allow more and expanded programs.

For years it looked like the new library, planned to complement an expansion of neighboring Balfour Park, wasn’t going to happen. Three attempts to pass a construction bond were not approved by voters even though interest in a new library was high. Efforts by the Spokane County Library District and the Spokane Valley City Council to work together seemed to be failing.

Then the library’s Board of Trustees got creative in order to fund the $15 million project. The district’s capital fund was tapped for some of the money, a loan was secured from the Washington State Treasurer’s LOCAL program and the Washington State Department of Commerce contributed a $2 million grant. Spokane Valley also contributed some funds and the library is still in the middle of a capital campaign to raise $1 million.

“It’s very exciting,” said Library District executive director Patrick Roewe. “It’s been a 10-year process, several library directors, several boards, several city councils. The players have changed, but the end goal has been the same.”

The new library, at the corner of Sprague Avenue and Herald Road across from the Spokane Valley City Hall, is 28,000 square feet. It sits on three acres the library purchased from the city in 2012. The five acres next to the library is being used for an expansion of Balfour Park, which is currently under construction.

According to the city, the Phase 1 construction in Balfour Park that is currently underway includes putting in utilities, landscaping and irrigation. A small building that includes public bathrooms and a security office for the Spokane Valley Police Department will be put in and some park pathways will be completed. An events plaza with a Veteran’s Memorial is also included in Phase 1. Phase 2 is tentatively planned for 2024 and will include an amphitheater, playground, picnic shelters, splash pad and sport courts.

The current Spokane Valley Library on Main Street is a threestory building constructed in 1955 with a significantly smaller footprint. There’s little natural light inside and not much room for programs, including the popular storytimes for kids. Even though the building is small, it’s one of the busiest, serving hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

Roewe said the library has had to set capacity limits for several programs, including the popular summer reading program. “For some of our marquee events we hand out tickets and hold encore events,” he said.

The larger space available in the new library means there will be plenty of room to have just one event instead of breaking kids up into groups. “We can run more programs with larger audiences and still comply with fire codes,” he said. “Our public space is about a 25 percent increase from where we are now. It’s all one level, very open and flexible.”

The library was built to last at least 50 years and the way the library serves the public will likely change during that time, Roewe said. The design of the building was created to be flexible enough to adapt to whatever those changes might be.

The new library boasts a large community room that can accommodate 200 people and can also be split into two smaller rooms. There’s an audio/visual studio that can be used to record videos or podcasts, four meeting rooms and an outdoor patio. There are windows everywhere, particularly looking north toward what will become the expanded Balfour Park. “This building feels very warm and inviting,” Roewe said. “We’re going to have this gorgeous park. The library design is meant to embrace the park.”

When the library district first proposed building a new library more than a decade ago, several public meetings were held to get input from the public about what features and amenities they would like to see in the new building. The district listened to that input, Roewe said.

“The reason we have four meeting rooms is because that’s what people wanted,” he said. “We’ve been able to include that feedback from way back when.”

Each meeting room is slightly different, but they all boast integrated audio/visual equipment as well as white boards. They can be used for anything from homeschool groups to students wanting a quiet place to study. All the rooms, including the large community room, are free to use and can be reserved online. “These rooms can be whatever the community needs them to be,” he said.

The interior of the building is mostly complete except for some finishing touches that will be done before the June 17 grand opening celebration. The landscaping is currently going in, including some gardens and seating areas. “We’re over 90 percent complete right now,” Roewe said. “We’ really nearly there.”

The new library also has a garage that will serve as the home base for the district’s mobile services program, which sends what are essentially mobile libraries throughout the county. “The is our new home base,” Roewe said. “We have been without permanent storage for our mobile services.”

One of the first things visitors will notice is the huge, donut shaped lights that hang from the ceiling. The round LED lights have a hole in the center that is designed to dampen sound. “It’s meant to funnel sounds upward with the cone,” he said.

The expanded children’s area will be in the east end of the building. There will be space for activities, including activities tables that will be constantly changing, offering everything from construction with Legos to coloring.

“We’ll have some fun interactive learning areas,” Roewe said.