SEQUIM — The Sequim Library is now covered from the elements, and with construction continuing at a strong pace, administrative leaders anticipate the facility being open for the Summer Reading Program.
“Everything is going well,” said Noah Glaude, executive director of the North Olympic Library System (NOLS).
“We’re still on schedule for opening late spring with substantial completion by the end of May and likely to open in mid-June.”
Substantially complete means the building at 630 N. Sequim Ave. would be “basically done” and they’d move the collection from the temporary library at 609 W. Washington St., Suite 21, back to the expanded and renovated library, Glaude said.
The original library closed March 10 to move materials, and operations reopened at the temporary location on April 1.
The updated library will go from 6,000 square feet to about 10,000 square feet to offer more space for collections, meetings and events, along with more natural lighting, new bathrooms, a paved parking lot and pathway along the south side of the property.
Glaude said contractors worked as much as they could around a delay in the delivery of the building’s steel in the fall.
“We didn’t have a lot of control over that,” he said.
Overall, library leaders have been happy with the progress.
“The site is fully covered now, and we’re getting a really good sense of what the building will feel like,” Glaude said.
Funding
NOLS reports it has about $10.7 million needed to complete the construction project. Included are grants and donations as well as a $4.49 million loan through the state Treasurer’s LOCAL Program.
Glaude said they continue to seek grants and donations to pay back the loan.
In the fall, NOLS and the North Olympic Library Foundation received more than $530,000 from more than 550 donors, ranging from $20 to more than $100,000, he said.
“It was an amazing response,” Glaude said. “We’re really excited to see how many people wanted to support this project.”
During the planning and construction phases, NOLS has opened up naming opportunities for different spaces in the renovated library.
Glaude said several spaces were claimed during the fall fundraising campaign, but some remain, such as for the main meeting room and outdoor stage. To learn how to sponsor a space, visit nols.org/sequim-naming.
NOLS staff also continue to seek various grants with the library system receiving a $25,000 Community Development Grant from the First Fed Foundation and a $30,000 grant from the state Department of Commerce’s Washington Electric Vehicle Charging Program for EV charging stations in the new parking lot.
Temporary space
Glaude said patrons have found the temporary space and visits are on par with the original library.
The Sequim Library had 104,432 patron visits in 2023, and 104,473 patron visits in 2024 despite a three-week closure for moving between facilities, according to NOLS records.
“That’s pretty good considering we were closed for about a month,” Glaude said.
The temporary space has had a few issues, he said, such as being a large echoey space, but “we are continuing to be excited about the (new library) as it comes together, how well it’s laid out and designed, and that it’s going to last for decades and be so much better for the community.”
“We’re all excited to get this done,” Glaude said. “It feels like we’re in the home stretch.”
NOLS leaders anticipate that, when the renovated library opens, usage will go up due to its new amenities.
“We haven’t had a meeting room available since before the pandemic, and we expect that usage to change,” Glaude said.
For updates and more information on the Sequim Library Renovation and Expansion Project, visit NOLS.org/Sequim.
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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.
Work continues on many new elements of the Sequim Library, including a front circulation desk, pictured, and various dedicated areas, such as a children’s area. (North Olympic Library System)
