One hundred years ago, Port Orchard residents checked out books from their new library for the first time.
In October 1923, several members of the local Parent Teacher Association petitioned the City Council for a library. The council agreed a library was needed, but the city was unable to change its budget at the time. Undaunted, the PTA members asked for some space in the Town Hall and assured the council they would be able to start the library with donations and volunteers. The library soon opened and was later written into the city budget in September of 1924.
The volunteers continued their efforts—staffing and managing the library and making resources available. Books were borrowed, relationships grew, and the next time library volunteers asked for funding, voters made sure the library kept its doors open and its shelves full. “The library has always been key to the vitality of downtown,” said Kathleen Wilson, South Kitsap Regional branch manager who oversees the library today. Those original volunteers and supportive community members could scarcely imagine what the library branch would become to their city.
Every month, the branch sees more patrons. It is always the branch where the most people sign up for new library accounts throughout the entire Kitsap Regional Library system, Wilson said. Photos and newspapers from the decades adorn the walls of the community hub. Children fill storytimes, and new staff come aboard to further develop programs.
On a cold day in early January 1964, the library officially became a part of KRL. It moved to a municipal building on Prospect Street, where more than 29,000 items were circulated its first year—a number that would nearly double by the 1970s and rise more than 50% by the end of the decade. The library moved again in 1976, and more patrons followed. Adults packed classes on everything from cooking to using the newly minted computers, and more items were introduced to the catalog—like a Polaroid camera that could be checked out for two weeks at a time.
When the library outgrew its walls again in 1984, volunteers lined the streets to pass books hand-to-hand down to the old post office building, where the library is currently based. “True to form, the Port Orchard branch today is really busy, getting busier,” Wilson said. The buses and ferries right outside branch doors make Port Orchard an especially high-traffic location.
At Waterfront Wednesdays, a longstanding library tradition, hundreds gather to watch free Summer Learning performances.
Practically bursting at the seams, the library once again needs to expand to support its community. So, as the branch celebrates 100 years of history, plans are in motion to ensure the library thrives in the future by raising funds to build a new Port Orchard branch as part of the Port Orchard Community Event Center. The new building includes plans for an events space outside, with more area for teens and children inside, to better serve young families while providing access to extensive meeting rooms and covered outdoor spaces. “It’s going to really take advantage of the waterfront,” Wilson said.
After 100 years of service, the library is looking to the future, “So we will be able to serve our patrons as their needs evolve,” Wilson said.
