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NEWPORT – The Pend Oreille County Library District has a broad definition of what it means to learn.
At least, that is how district director Mandy Walters views it. In her eight years as director, Walters said the district has come to facilitate learning in a variety of ways, many of which do not even involve books.
“Yes, [learning] comes from a nonfiction book, but it also comes from a fiction book, and it also comes from us teaching you how to use your smartphone, and it also comes from doing a weed walk with the Weed Board,” Walters said. “There are such a huge amount of ways to learn and we want to facilitate all of that.”
The district has locations in Newport, Cusick, Ione and Metaline Falls. As its central branch, the Newport Library serves the most patrons of the four — 8,000 of the 13,000 or more in Pend Oreille County. About 15 full- and part-time employees and 15 active volunteers run the district.
The county voted in the ‘70s or ‘80s to form the district, Walters said. Then, the digital age in the ‘90s started to change it. When the internet, personal computers and other products of the digital age became everyday possessions, libraries adopted them as part of public service. The Pend Oreille County Library District was among them.
“It’s really prompted a change in what libraries do, and how libraries think of themselves, and what communities are asking of their libraries,” Walters said.
In addition to the district’s website and social media presence, patrons can access digital apps, research databases, resume builders, job assistance and test preparation online. And they can browse books, movies, shows and audiobooks in the district’s catalog.
The district also offers computers, 24/7 WiFi access at its Newport, Cusick and Metaline Falls locations, a 3D printer and other technology for patron use.
“Basically, anything you could ever want online, we have,” Walters said.
Not all of the changes in the district have been digital.
The district has a book-by-mail program for those homebound in the community. And besides books, DVDs and other physical media, patrons can borrow from the district’s Library of Things, established five years ago.
Per the Pend Oreille community’s outdoor culture, the Library of Things includes solar charging panels, bear canisters, game cameras and Discover Passes to Washington state recreation lands. The Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office even used one of the library’s game cameras to catch a burglar.
“We try to tailor it for things that we think the community will be interested in,” Walters said.
Also tailored to the Pend Oreille community’s interests are the district’s events, ranging from storytimes and club meetings to the annual Ren Faire in Newport. As for other events, the district booths at the Newport and Ione farmer’s markets and is involved in after-school programs in the county.
Connie Lee, who graduated from Pend Oreille River School last year, and Jackson Ray, who is a senior there, are friends who attend the Newport Library’s biweekly Dungeons & Dragons event in a group of about seven to 10.
“The library always has been a place where people can come to hang out and just chill and read a book, but over time they have made it more open for people to actually socialize,” Lee said. The D&D group used to only have about three players before growing to its current size.
But the Pend Oreille County Library District’s Newport location does not have enough seating, storage or staff rooms to expand its services much further.
So, it plans to build and move to a new location — one-half of the 1-acre lot by Stratton Elementary School. The district has a memorandum of understanding with the Newport City Council for access to that half-acre. The MOU will last 10 years, during which the district has to raise what Walters estimates as multiple million dollars for the project.
“It feels like such a mountain to climb right now, but we’re nothing if not persistent,” Walters said. The district is in contact with grant programs and architecture firms.
Part of the district’s view of learning is the “window and mirror” theory Walters said all librarians support: that people of all ages, genders, socioeconomic statuses and other backgrounds experience struggle, and it is important they see themselves in the materials at their local public library.
Walters said Pend Oreille County has people of all backgrounds, and the district will continue to facilitate their learning.
“People aren’t just learning in this one way anymore, or even in just a small handful of ways anymore,” Walters said. “And so, if we don’t move forward, we are no longer of service, we’re no longer useful.”
