LOON LAKE, Wash. – After eight years, the new Loon Lake Library is complete and ready to welcome the community, transforming from a small facility into a multi-million dollar building that serves as more than just a library.
The new facility features a community room, a children’s section, and a fireplace. Since opening, the library has seen dramatic growth, with over 800 more people visiting in July compared to last year.
“We’re seeing so many faces that we have never seen before,” said Holly Shamberger, president of Friends of Loon Lake Library.
Shamberger described the transformation: “It was a small little sweet library. Amazing librarians, amazing admin. All in a tiny little package. And now it’s gorgeous and everyone wants to be here.”
The library functions as a community gathering space in an area that lacks other central meeting places.
“Here in Loon Lake, we’re not a town, we don’t have a town hall, we don’t have a gathering space,” said Sue Poe of Libraries of Stevens County. “I see this becoming a place where we end up using it more and more for socialization.”
Community activities are already taking place. Book clubs meet in the new meeting room, with library user Sandra Mosconi noting the improvements.
“It’s so beautiful. Much more spacious,” Mosconi said. “We’re looking forward to being in the meeting room today. We’re doing a book club in there.”
The expanded space has enabled larger children’s programming. Matt Varange, Loon Lake Branch Manager, described a special summer reading program that drew 79 children and 51 adults.
“This place was packed, and it would have been impossible to hold it at our old location,” Varange said.
The building was funded entirely through fundraising and donations, with no taxpayer money used for construction.
“We say if you give a book, if you buy a book, if you volunteer anything that you do, you have bought into this library,” Shamberger said.
Fundraising continues as the Friends of Loon Lake Library works to raise money for a patio and landscaping outside the building.
COPYRIGHT 2025 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.