Timberland Library is community treasure

As Olympia grapples with issues of the “Missing Middle,” and attempts to find a balance between new downtown condos, a vital business center and a homeless population, we should not overlook one of our most valuable — and truly democratic — assets: the Timberland Library. Indeed, as our nation grows more divisive and the income gap widens, public libraries play a huge role in fulfilling a center place in communities.

Katrina vander Heuvel recently wrote in the Washington Post, “While the powers that be attack the humanities (and sometimes, it seems, humanity itself), libraries provide research materials and books that foster awareness and understanding.... Public libraries strive to be places where everyone is welcome and offer resources that everyone can access. They bring people together.”

Enter the doors of the Olympia Timberland Library and you will see a full snapshot of our community: children and parents, street people, college students, teachers, retirees, etc. Whether you use the library yourself or not, there is an overall community benefit.

The library card is free. But this invaluable — and sometimes taken for granted — resource is not cost-exempt. You can help. Please consider joining us in making an annual donation in support of one of our region’s great treasures.