Invest in Woodland Community Library

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FVRL is working to build a new home for Woodland Community Library that will provide more materials, resources, ADA accessibility, internet and computer access, and additional space for meetings, study, programs and workshops.

Progress and next steps:

News

Site of future Woodland library in Google Maps

  • October 2020: Hacker Architects submitted the final renderings for the conceptual design. (See the site plan and conceptual drawings in the slideshow!) The FVRL Foundation and Friends of Woodland Library are actively fundraising.
  • February 2020: Hacker Architects presented conceptual designs and siting alternatives for the building on February 8 at the Love Your Library event and at the public meeting on February 11.
  • We are compiling data from the public survey to help the architect to produce a community-driven conceptual design.

What’s next?

  • Continuing to raise funds in order to begin the architectural construction drawings and begin the site work

How you can help:

Background:

2019:

  • October 2019: We selected an architect, Hacker, to do the conceptual design for the new library.
  • June 2019: The FVRL Board of Trustees has moved $450,000 from its reserve plan into the Woodland building project fund.
  • The Honorable Frank and Arlene Price Foundation awarded a $25,000 grant to Fort Vancouver Regional Library Foundation toward the construction of a Woodland library.
  • The 2019-2021 Washington State budget includes a $515,000 grant for Woodland Community Library.
  • After being used as a training site for fire and police personnel, the former Woodland Funeral Home building was demolished in February.
  • A traffic study was completed to determine needed adjustments at the new library site.

2018:

  • The Woodland Funeral Home moved to its new location in Park Plaza at 660 Goerig, opening the way for the library site to begin development.
  • FVRL hosted an asset sale to sell fixtures, doors, windows and other salvageable items from the building.

2017:

  • We have land!  On May 19, FVRL closed on property at the corner of Goerig Street and Lakeshore Drive near downtown Woodland (see map). Press release (PDF)
  • Fees lowered!  Many Woodland residents (those in Cowlitz County outside the city limits) live outside of FVRL district boundaries and must pay a fee to get a library card. In May, FVRL changed the formula used to charge non-resident fees, allowing individuals to purchase a library card at lower cost. The library is also offering free 3-item library cards for minors so that all children and students, in district or not, have access to library resources.

2015, 2016:

  • FVRL Trustees set aside $1 million for the building project.
  • FVRL worked with community stakeholders to find suitable property.
  • At the same time, the Friends of Woodland Community Library began fundraising.

October 2014: A Pre-Design Study by FFA Architects (PDF), with input from the communities involved, recommended library square footage and features and included projected possible costs.

December 2013: A facilities study by BergerABAM (PDF) identified the need for new library facilities in Woodland, Ridgefield, and Washougal.

In the news: