Visitors to the Loon Lake Library on a summer afternoon might see someone managing a small business from their laptop; a patient attending a telehealth web conference from inside one of the library’s private rooms; or perhaps a student doing homework.
The library is far more than just a place to go and check out a book.
“A third place is somewhere you would go that’s not work or home or school. It’s a place where you can go and gather and be with members of your community. Public libraries have become that space across the country, and we sure see it here in Stevens County,” said Amanda Six, the director of the Libraries of Stevens County.
The Loon Lake Library recently unveiled a new building a few blocks away from their old location. It is about 5,000 square feet – six times larger than the previous library – and provides numerous new amenities including a meeting room open to the public 24 hours a day via an outdoor keypad.
While the library opened in early July, the grand opening won’t occur until Aug. 16.
Mary Klabenes has been a librarian at the Loon Lake Library for the past six years. Having worked in the new and old location, Klabenes said that the new library is a totally divergent place.
“It’s a big deal,” Klabenes said. “I’ve noticed we’re seeing more of the families. It’s different for every family, but we’ll normally see the wife and kids come in quickly for whatever they want; story time and leave. And we’re noticing a bunch of older kids are coming in to either use the Wi-Fi or just a comfortable place to hangout. The husbands have internet access here, so they can do their business online.”
Klabenes became a librarian because she loves two things – books and helping people. Being a librarian was the best way for her to do both.
On July 17 and 18, librarians at the Loon Lake Library made 40 new library cards. For the entire month of July 2024, only 26 library cards were made. Visits to the library in July went up by 566 people, from 887 people in July 2024 to 1,443 people in July 2025.
A children’s story time at the old Loon Lake Library might have reached max capacity at 15 kids. But at the new location, a summer reading program in July had more than 130 kids and parents attend.
Every Thursday at 10:30 a.m., the Loon Lake library has story times for kids aged mostly 2 to 5, but everyone is welcome. For a July 10 special summer reading event called “Bluey and Bingo,” 79 kids and 59 parents showed up to the Loon Lake Library. Matt Varang, the branch manager, said it would be impossible to do that same kind of event at the last location.
The new library in Loon Lake cost just over $3 million to build. As a part of the Stevens County Library Legacy Project, people like Six and her cohort of devoted library lovers needed somewhere around $5 million. Most of that went toward the actual construction of the new library in Loon Lake, while the rest is being diverted toward renovations at the Northport library, the Chewelah library and the Colville library.
Six said the Libraries of Stevens County Legacy Project has raised just about $4.1 million in total for all projects. They’re trying to raise an additional $900,000 in order to provide amenities including an outdoor patio, water bottle-filling station and other landscaping needs at the Loon Lake library. The library has “naming opportunities” for large donors who want to see their name attached to a conference room or other staple of the library.
Through a Community Development Block Grant, the Libraries of Stevens County Legacy Project was gifted around $1.7 million for the Loon Lake Library specifically. Mix that with another $629,530 from the State of Washington Library Capital Improvement Program, along with a couple of other grants and the result is the sleek, contemporary look of the Loon Lake Library located right off state Route 292. But in order to receive any grants at all, Six said they had to locally raise about $650,000 just to build the new library.
“Our group alone has given them (The Libraries of Stevens County) $143,000 to make the library happen. A lot of that was so that we could get matching grants and get grants,” said Holly Shamberger, the president of the Friends of Loon Lake Library. “We had to prove that the community wanted this. The way you prove that, is if they (the community) are willing to donate. We were able through book sales to impress upon people that we need to show them we want this and our community rose to the occasion. They made it happen.”
Shamberger has served as the president of the Friends of the Loon Lake Library since 2017. Through book, brownie and tomato sales, her organization was able to help make the vision of the library a reality.
Right next to the new library in Loon Lake is a large pole building with silver, metal siding. Inside, Friends of the Loon Lake Library sell used books to raise money for the new building. The shop is open the first Friday and Saturday of the month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Staring at the crimson flames in the fireplace at the Loon Lake Library, Shamberger’s voice faltered and she became emotional thinking about how beneficial the library has been for residents of Stevens County.
“I could meet you for coffee, but it doesn’t cost anything to come here,” Shamberger said. “You can come here and it’s all here for you, and it doesn’t matter whether you have the money to afford it. It doesn’t matter whether you’re young or old. You’re welcome here.”
Shamberger said that Stevens County is a severely underserved community. The lack of economic development and the lack of opportunity that exists in Stevens County contributes to the increased need for resources like the Loon Lake Library.
According to the Washington State Broadband Office, nearly 63% of households in Stevens County do not have access to high-speed, broadband internet. Broadband is vital for communities as the demands of modern life often require access to high-speed internet for telehealth appointments, online education, government services, Zoom meetings for work and more.
“Someone who lives way up wherever on whatever mountain, they can still enjoy the secluded lifestyle that they’ve wanted and still have access to the online economy,” said Frank Metlow, the Deputy Executive Director at Tri-County Economic Development District.
The district provides a variety of services and programs to enrich local communities by helping to grow businesses in the area through planning and resource development. A main focus point is to provide broadband access through fiber optic or wireless installation.
However, the rough geography of Eastern Washington, with all the lakes, rivers, trees, streams and mountains, can make the task of installing lines of fiber quite challenging. Metlow said that the Washington State Broadband Office initially estimated it would take $1.2 billion to get everyone in the state access to broadband in their home. Metlow said the real number is somewhere between $5.2 billion and $5.6 billion.
With increased access to the internet, comes another factor that people, particularly older folks, must be aware of – the dangers of the internet. Metlow said people have to be trained how to recognize scams, phishing and other entities on the internet that might try to take advantage of a person unfamiliar with how the internet works. That’s where libraries come in.
“The most important part about a library is not the books, and it’s not the buildings, it’s the people,” Metlow said. “It’s those local librarians and library staff who know their community that they work and live in who are going to know what kind of programs they need and what people are asking for.”
Meredith Rowe is an educational psychologist and professor of early learning and development at Harvard University. Rowe said that children who arrive to kindergarten with strong language and social-emotional skills are found to do better in school, and have higher high school graduation rates than kids who start out behind.
Libraries can help foster language and social-emotional skills in a variety of ways. One of those ways is by providing story times where kids can come and absorb interesting pictures, words and stories to help prepare them for the long educational journey that begins with kindergarten. Story times also provide the opportunity for kids to learn how to interact with other kids.
“Libraries can offer programming for parents of young children to help them understand simple routines and activities they can do at home to prepare their children for kindergarten,” Rowe said over email. “For example, just reading to your child and playing and talking daily helps kids learn. Once parents have this knowledge it helps the children, but also increases their parenting ‘efficacy’ and confidence which helps them enjoy the role more. Bringing parents together in rural areas can also provide community, as new parents of young children often feel isolated.”
Six said that an educator in Colville told her that every child who arrives ready for kindergarten saves the school district on average $10,000 to $12,000 a year because that child then doesn’t need a paraeducator or other services to help them catch up with other students.
About 90% of the library’s total operating budget comes from local property taxes. Any money that a library receives from taxes is just to keep the lights on, hence the need for a strong fundraising campaign to build a new library.
“It’s hard for me to put into words, because I have it,” Shamberger said. “I have this thing where I come in here and I feel my blood pressure come down and I just enjoy it. You hang out with great people and you talk books or you talk life. It fulfills a need obviously. These numbers don’t lie. I wonder what it is? People want, after COVID even more so, they want to make a connection.”