SEQUIM — Volunteers with the Friends of Sequim Library are seeking a new spot to hold their monthly sales once their one-year lease in Rock Plaza, a space formerly available rent-free, expires.
Katherine Huelskamp, the Friends’ board secretary, said the monthly book sale at 10175 Old Olympic Highway on the second Saturday of each month averages between $2,500 and $3,000 a month, but with a new year-long lease and utilities, the nonprofit has an overhead cost of about $2,000 a month.
“If FOSL is going to make it, we need to find a new place,” Huelskamp said of the organization.
Board members opted to sign a lease from June 1 to May 31, 2026, to allow them more time to find another solution, interim president Pam Erb said.
“The Rock Plaza owner was incredibly gracious to let us lease this for as long as we did with no rent,” she said. “It was a blessing for the library, (which was) able to fund quite a bit of their projects and their expansion.”
Friends of Sequim Library (FOSL), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, moved into Rock Plaza during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it previously operated in a building behind the Sequim Library, 630 N. Sequim Ave.
That building does not exist anymore as the library’s expansion and renovation is being finished this summer. The site’s layout does not include another FOSL building for book sales.
Huelskamp said they’re looking for a permanent space to operate, and since they’ve never had to pay rent before, the new cost is “a significant amount of our income.”
“A lot of people in the community think we’re vital, so we want to keep it going,” Erb said.
FOSL is separate from the North Olympic Library System (NOLS), Friends board member Rick Yates said.
“(FOSL) exists to support the Sequim Library,” he said.
The group provides an annual donation to the library, which in recent years has been $25,000, and it has helped the summer reading program. It also gave $150,000 to the Sequim library’s expansion project.
FOSL board members said they plan to give $25,000 next year, but they might have to dip into FOSL’s savings to maintain that amount due to the new expenses.
Erb said they can negotiate a new lease next year, but they’re open to moving to a new space, either for free or possibly for purchase.
Seeking support
To increase revenues, FOSL board members are considering options that include:
• Members-only sale events.
• A holiday sale separate from the monthly sale.
• Expanding online sales.
• Hosting book clubs with sales before/after.
• Seeking more legacy donations.
Media donations are accepted from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays at Rock Plaza, except for the Wednesday of the sale.
The sale now opens an hour earlier, and books in the Annex (the back portion of the sale) are now 50 cents per book. At noon, Annex books become $1 a bag, and they are free after 2 p.m.
Volunteer Linda DeMoss said she finds the Annex to be a good resource for children’s books, particularly to donate to Sequim Community Aid’s Toys for Sequim Kids event at Christmas.
FOSL does not accept magazines, Reader’s Digest or condensed books.
Yates, who manages the “Miscellaneous Nonfiction” section, said community members come from diverse backgrounds and he’s always amazed at the quality of what comes in.
Annual meeting
Friends of Sequim Library hosts its annual membership meeting at 10 a.m. July 22 at the Sequim Elks Lodge, 143 Port Williams Road. Sequim branch manager Emily Sly will speak about library renovations, and bi-annual elections for board members will be held.
Volunteers
FOSL has about 20 active volunteers, and they’re seeking a treasurer with experience working for nonprofits and people to help move books.
To sign up, visit Rock Plaza from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays or Wednesdays.
More information is available at https://sites.google.com/site/friendsof sequimlibrary/home.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
