beach reads
Boy, Dewey have a story for you?
Building a library legacy
took stacks of dedication
By GRETCHEN AMMERMAN
For the TODAY
Libraries are supposed to be quiet
places, but sometimes it takes a lot of
noise to get them built. The following is
the tale of the ladies of the Siletz Valley
Friends of the Library, née the Siletz Civic
Club, who have girl-power pride about
taking a failing library and turning it into
a treasure for their community.
“We certainly aren’t against men
and have had tons of help from them,
including our husbands and current
board member Jim Buisman,” said SVFL
member Sally Jennings. “But the women
have been the backbone of taking this
project from dream to reality.”
Siletz has had a library since 1954
but, by the turn of the millennium, the
building it was housed in since 1983 made
the library more of a source of amusement
than edification.
“We joked that it was being held
together by termite saliva,” Jennings said.
“It was totally leaky but you couldn’t even
put a new roof on it because the structure
wouldn’t hold the weight.”
For Jennings and other still very much
involved members of the original Siletz
Civic Club, including Sunshine Keck
and Karen Carlson, the library became
the primary purpose of the club. Existing
funding sources for the library were
enough for a tiny staff and small number
of books, but nothing for the actual
building.
“We kept hoping someone would come
along and build us a new library,” Jennings
said. “We finally realized that we could
wait the rest of our lives for someone to
come along or we can just do it ourselves.”
Changing the club name to the Siletz
Valley Friends of the Library was a way to
focus the effort but also widen the net for
the people involved.
“Many of us live outside of the town
of Siletz,” Carlson said. “But this is our
community too.”
The ladies with the newly sharp club
focus formed a 501©(3), rolled up their
sleeves and started fundraising with events
including car washes, bake sales and silent
auctions at the aquarium.
“We did one car wash dressed as old
ladies,” Carlson said. “Anything to get
people’s attention. We wanted to prove
how dedicated we were.”
In a few years, the grass roots efforts
had raised roughly $30,000, which was
enough to stimulate other funding sources.
When the coffers reached $86,000 from
individuals, businesses and small grants,
a significant donation came in from
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians.
“The Tribe could see that we were
doing something that would serve the
Tribal members as well as the rest of the
community and they pledged to help
us with funding from the beginning,”
Jennings said. “They committed $250,000
and our world changed right then.”
The group continued writing and
winning grants, working toward the goal
of an initial estimate cost of $700,000.
“We thought we could break ground
in enough time to open in 2006, but
suddenly the cost of things went up after
Hurricane Katrina,” Jennings said. “The
lowest bid that came in was $850,000. We
were so disappointed, but what happened
next tells you the kind of community we
have.”
Ron Anderson, a local contractor, heard
what happened and told the board to
re-open the bidding.
“This is called the Ron Anderson and
Larry Franks memorial building because
of everything they did to make this
happen,” Jennings said. “We had scaled
back our plans to bring costs down, but
they said we aren’t going cheap. I never
saw the books but I bet they didn’t make
a dime.”
Then the group was hit with another
surprise.
“Right when we almost had finished
plans for the building, earthquakes became
a big issue,” Keck said. “So, then we had
to change the plans to fit the highest
standards of earthquake readiness.”
But the ladies knew this story couldn’t
close without a happy ending.
“We were exhausted and all of our
husbands were in shock,” Carlson
said. “But the women on the board are
tenacious, and if we say we are going to do
something we do it.”
Finally, on January 6, 2007, the new
18 • oregoncoastTODAY.com • facebook.com/oregoncoasttoday • May 29, 2020
Sally Jennings, Karen Carlson and Sunshine Keck
library opened to the public. Within the
first year, circulation jumped from 9,861 to
14,048.
In addition to books and other things
for community use like computers, a
projector for public presentations and free
WiFi, the library has a glass case filled
with traditional Siletz Tribal baskets and
modern works of art based on the basket
theme.
“This is so more more than a library for
us, it’s a community hub,” Jennings said.
“We think of it like a basket which has
been the guiding theme since Siletz tribal
member Tina Retasket brought in some
of her beautiful baskets and we used them
for the color scheme of the outside of the
building.”
Though the Lincoln County Library
District provides some funding for staff
and books, the SVFL continues to raise
money to keep the building in good shape.
“Every month we have something new
that needs to be taken care of,” Keck said.
“But the support we continue to get from
the community is profound. The Tribe
always encourages us to apply for funds;
and we have other supporters like Rita
Peck, owner of the Little Chief Diner,
who helps us host events and never says
‘no.’ She has been a quiet but constant
supporter from the beginning.”
Throughout the process, life went on for
the ladies of SVFL. The treasurer fought
cancer; babies were born to mothers who
simply packed them up and brought them
along to meetings.
“It took a few years before people
believed in what we were trying to do,”
Jennings said. “One person dismissed us
by saying we were building a castle in the
sky. Never tell women they are building a
castle in the sky; all that does is make us
more determined.”