6A • October 20, 2017 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Library looks to the future as it celebrates 90th birthday
Private library
supported by 80
volunteers
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
The original Cannon
Beach Library had 54 books
sitting on three shelves at
what used to be a grocery
store on Hemlock Street.
Ninety years later, the li-
brary now fills its own build-
ing with more than 14,000
books. It has seen a number
of location changes and tech-
nological advances since
1927. But for nine decades
its legacy as a private, almost
solely volunteer-driven li-
brary has remained.
The Cannon Beach Li-
brary board is hosting its
90th birthday party Oct. 21
as a way to thank the com-
munity for decades of sup-
port. People are invited to
dress as their favorite literary
character and enjoy a buffet
of snacks from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. at the library.
“(The library) has been a
community effort from the
beginning, starting with com-
munity dances and chicken
dinner fundraisers,” said
Phyllis Bernt, co-president
of the library board. “We are
here to serve the needs of the
community.”
Unlike most libraries,
Cannon Beach has never
been public. It was estab-
lished by the Cannon Beach
Civic Club — a group of
eight women who worked
on civic needs such as street
lighting, garbage disposal,
public restrooms and, even-
tually, the library.
Through donations and
hundreds of volunteer hours,
the library was able to move
into a small cottage on Sec-
ond Street in 1945 before set-
tling in the Hemlock location
in 1972.
While the civic club that
started the library no longer
exists, its spirit of public ser-
vice has remained. There is
one paid position at the li-
brary. Otherwise, day-to-day
tasks like running the front
desk, book collection and
inventory, maintenance and
fundraising are done by more
than 80 volunteers, who each
year donate 9,000 hours of
in keeping (the library) per-
fect.”
Lynne Murray, another li-
brary board member, said part
of what she thinks has made
the library thrive for as long as
it has is not just the number of
volunteers, but the type. “We
have a large number of re-
sources in Cannon Beach. We
have people move here who
were former children’s librar-
ians, people who worked in
finance, people who worked
in real estate, and they donate
their expertise and do it for
free,” Murray said. “Everyone
brings something different to
the table to help this run.”
The goal for the next 90
years is continue to figure out
what resources people need
from a library and find ways
to fund it, Bernt said. But for
now, she wants the party to
press pause on the hectic day-
to-day library routine to thank
volunteers and supporters.
And for those who are on
the fence about coming, the
board offers an incentive.
“We’re giving amnesty for
overdue book fees, one day
only,” Lundy said. “You can’t
miss it: We only do it every 90
years.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Jay Schwehr in 1976 moving books to the new building using the “Library on the Move” cart.
their time, Bernt said.
Running as a nonprofit
rather than a public institu-
tion has its share of challeng-
es and benefits. Collecting
books and movies to rent is
relatively easy — the library
receives about 10,000 book
donations a year. But it takes
about $83,000 a year to op-
erate, with only $16,000 of
that funding coming from the
city.
It’s not always easy to find
enough volunteers to help
organize programs and fund-
raisers to keep the library
running. Tasks like general
building maintenance and
janitorial work are shared
between everyone. But for
library board member Sandi
Lundy, it is worth it.
“We take a lot of pride in
making this library the cen-
ter of the community,” Lun-
dy said. “There are so many
moving parts to it, but it’s fun
to bond with the other volun-
teers. There’s a sense of pride
Counties seek sustainable tourism City manager finalists picked
Tourism from Page 1A
“The city (of Cannon
Beach) asked for an ecotour-
ism strategy in their strategic
plan,” Melissa Keyser, the
program coordinator for the
Haystack Rock Awareness
Program, said. “It’s every-
one’s job to protect this area.
We all have positive ideas, but
how do we make it happen?”
Finalists from Page 1A
Sustainability
At places like Fort Stevens
State Park, Oregon State Parks
North Coast District Manager
Teri Wing sees the impact of
the booming tourism industry
almost every day.
Wing has been with the
parks system for more than 30
years and said it’s almost hard
to describe the influx of trav-
elers. At Fort Stevens, people
book RV spots nine months in
advance, and for most of the
summer the park is at capacity
with more than 5,000 visitors
at once. Being constantly at
capacity leads to more main-
tenance for staff, as well as
an increase in people parking
and camping alongside U.S.
Highway 101 when the park
is full, she said.
Overuse of certain parks
and trails has lead to erosion
issues, as well. Cape Kiwanda
State Natural Area in Pacific
City has had to put up fenc-
ing and more signage to keep
people out of actively eroding
areas.
“When the understory
(on the trail) isn’t allowed to
heal, all you are going to have
is mud,” Wing said. “Grass
doesn’t grow back, so you end
up with a lot of erosion. With
how much use they get, we
don’t have the infrastructure
to fix them.”
Terms like ecotourism
or sustainable tourism often
make people think of travel-
ing in an eco-friendly way,
said Kristin Dahl, the vice
president of destination de-
velopment at Travel Oregon,
who led Monday’s workshop.
But making tourism sus-
tainable also means tackling
local livability issues like af-
fordable housing for service
industry employees, having
accessible public transit and
representing cultural heritage.
For Jon Burpee, the super-
intendent of Lewis and Clark
National Historical Park,
creating sustainable tourism
COLIN MURPHEY/EO MEDIA GROUP
Spending by tourists in the region has increased from $391
million in 2000 to $779 million in 2016.
means developing affordable
housing.
“It is hard to manage a
park effectively when sea-
sonal park rangers can’t find
housing that’s affordable,” he
said. “Sustainable tourism has
to be a way to meet greater
needs.”
Often when Dahl leads
these workshops, she said
communities are looking for
ways to bring more people to
their area. But the challenge
for the North Coast will be
learning how to manage the
volume of tourists already
coming, which could come
in the form of asking them to
visit different times of year
other than summer and to try
underutilized parks and at-
tractions.
“It’s a good problem to
have. Tourism is good for the
economy,” Wing said. “We
just want to lessen the pres-
sure on these areas.”
A path to follow
Casey Roeder, the execu-
tive director at the Skamania
County Chamber of Com-
merce in Washington state,
participated in the Columbia
River Gorge tourism studio
last year.
As the former president
of the Columbia River Gorge
Visitors Association, Roeder
said the region faced similar
issues to Clatsop and Tilla-
mook counties.
“We have very highly used
areas that feel congestion —
Multnomah Falls, Dog Moun-
tain, et cetera. The same time
of year we would have too
many people,” Roeder said.
“So we had to ask, ‘How do
we disperse people to other
areas that get less use?’”
Out of their tourism studio
came the Columbia Express, a
shuttle system that takes vis-
itors to and from Multnomah
Falls, which reduced traffic
and parking challenges.
Another project funded by
the grant was a 20-year plan
to connect biking and hiking
trails, as well as an itinerary of
events that lined up with bus
schedules to reduce vehicle use.
Greenwood served as gen-
eral manager of the Port of
Newport for the past three
years until this summer. He
resigned as general manager
in July because recently elect-
ed port commissioners want-
ed a change in leadership,
according to a press release
from the port.
Steidel said Tuesday he
feels confident in the abilities
of all three candidates.
City staff and Jensen Strat-
egies will work on forming
community and local govern-
ment administrator panels to
evaluate finalists. Represen-
tatives will be chosen from
the Cannon Beach Chamber
of Commerce, the hospitality
industry, arts community, en-
vironmental groups and other
Kevin Greenwood
Peter M.
Jankowski
locals to offer input, interim
City Manager Jason Scher-
merhorn said.
The other panel will be
made up of three other city
managers and one special
district manager. None have
been chosen yet.
Those interested in meet-
ing the finalists are invited to
a community forum at 7 p.m.
Nov. 6 at the Surfsand Resort.
Bruce St. Denis
Citizens are encouraged to
submit their questions ahead
of time to City Recorder Col-
leen Riggs, either in person
or by email by the end of the
day Oct. 31. The City Coun-
cil plans to choose a preferred
candidate by Nov. 8.
“I’m looking forward to
seeing the different types of
questions the community will
ask,” Steidel said.
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