President's Message

In 1962, the doors opened to a new library on the corner of Madison and High School Road.  Whether they donated labor,  money, or both, nearly everyone on Bainbridge Island contributed to its completion.  The building’s dedication is engraved on the  bronze plaque mounted on the brick wall near the original entrance:

Bainbridge Public Library
Built by and for
the People of Bainbridge Island

Islanders continue to play a vital role in the maintenance and daily operation of their library.  The Friday Tidies show up every Friday morning year round to groom the grounds,  volunteers  assist the KRL staff,  and downstairs in the bookroom the Friends sort, price and shelve donated books for three monthly sales. 

Volunteers and the hours they dedicate are important to the operation of the library,  but, as it is in the management of your home, money is a necessity: to pay for the heat and the lights, for janitorial services and roof repair, for general maintenance of  the building and the parking lots. Bainbridge Public Library receives no tax money.  It is entirely dependent upon the ongoing generosity of the Bainbridge Community.

In 2012, Islanders will mark the 50^th anniversary of the library they built on the corner of Madison and High School Road in 1962.  They continue to gather there in ever increasing numbers for meetings and entertainment, for classes and lectures, to use computers and, of course, to check out books.  These resources continue to be available thanks to Islanders’  generous donations  in response to the Library Board’s appeals and to their selection of the Library in the yearly One Call for All campaign.

Bainbridge author, Barbara Winther wrote, “It is not the way of Bainbridge Islanders to say, ‘There, we’ve done it; we’ll forget it’.”  It is the Islanders' continuing loyalty to the library and all it represents that marks it as the heart of the community.

Thank you for the support you’ve provided in the past, and thank you in advance for your continuing generosity.   

Pat Miller
Bainbridge Public Library
Board of Directors President