originallib

Lib1959

HISTORY

Secondlib


The Friends of the Battle Ground Community was formed on June 22, 1989. At the first meeting $83.00 in donations was collected and 40 ideas were brainstormed for the future. The first set of bylaws established a "Building Committee that shall be responsible for getting the new Battle Ground Community Library built...before the year 2000!." The goal took another nine years, but it has been achieved.

The formal Friends group was preceded by a citizen committee organized in 1984 to replace the old library. This committee focused on finding a suitable location for the building.

Through the years the Friends worked tirelessly and creatively to raise money for a new library. Among the most memorable efforts from the early days were two dinner theater plays with original scripts written by the first Friends president, raffles, and of course, book sales. The merchandise for the first used book sale came from a donation of the contents of several dumpsters with books in them for disposal. The Friends dumpster dove for every book they could sell. Since then enough books have been donated to support the Friends book sales including the annual Harvest Days Book Sale.

The effort to secure a new library building was the primary goal of the Friends for 25 years. Now the new library is open with Ben's Books, an in-house used book store. The Friends look forward to using and supporting the library for the next 25 years. New members are welcome as the Friends look forward to a new great mountain to climb - but they are staying out of the dumpsters from now on!

 

newlibrary

Public library service began in Battle Ground with a bookmobile in Novenber 1941.

The first library space was opened in the corner of the Odd Fellows Hall at the southeast corner of Main Street and Parkway Avenue in January 1944.

It moved to leased space on the ground floor of an apartment building on the southwest corner of Parkway and Main. That building has been remodeled and the diagonal door on the corner was the entrance to the library and is still there.
The third building was across the street on the northwest corner. It opened May 15, 1959. The new library opened May 15, 2009, exactly 50 years after the third building.