FVRLibraries bolsters services after voters approve levy lid lift

During a recent visit to Stevenson Community Library, FVRLibraries Executive Director Jennifer Giltrop observed a group of teens exploring the library through a scavenger hunt to answer questions and win prizes.

FVRLibraries expanded its hours across the regional library system June 1 after voters approved a levy lid lift in August. The Stevenson branch’s weekly hours increased from 48 to 60, which keeps the library open for one additional hour Monday through Thursday evenings and makes more of these programs and events possible.

“That’s exactly what we want to see,” Giltrop said. “More uses of our library, getting our teens engaged in our spaces and in our programs. Obviously all ages, but it’s great when you see teens there in the evening.”

Expanded hours was one of several priorities FVRLibraries identified when voters approved the levy lid lift at a rate of 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. Property owners began paying those taxes at the start of the year, and FVRLibraries received its first installment of funding in April.

Other levy lid lift promises that have been implemented or are underway include the June 1 launch of the Clark County Bookmobile, which provides library services to residents throughout the county; increases in the physical and digital materials budget; facilities improvements; and the addition of 20.2 full-time equivalent positions to cover expanded hours across the library district. All 15 locations across the district now open at 10 a.m., and most operate either six or seven days per week.

“It takes a while to ramp up after you pass your levy lid lift. Because of that, June 1 is when we added our 91 more open hours per week districtwide,” Giltrop said. “We added our staff to cover those hours. It takes some time to get staff on board, too. There’s always vacancies you’re filling on top of your new positions. But for the most part, we are staffed up and providing services across the district.”

The Clark County Bookmobile is in its pilot phase with a repurposed outreach vehicle that makes stops throughout the county. A permanent, larger vehicle will begin running this fall, Giltrop said. Other FVRLibraries bookmobiles run in Klickitat and Skamania counties.

FVRLibraries prioritized underserved people who are geographically removed from a library and might have other barriers to reach a library. The district identified 27 locations for monthly visits, including senior centers, low-income housing, summer meal sites, Boys & Girls Clubs and food banks.

So far, the bookmobile has served more than 850 patrons since June 1. People can request a bookmobile visit on FVRLibraries’ website.

“Our other bookmobiles, which are large, basically trucks or buses … you can go on as a patron and pick up your books right off the shelves of the bookmobile. The Clark County Bookmobile is a different model,” Giltrop said. “It’s more about doing what we call ‘lobby stops,’ so, going to a place like the senior center and taking carts into the center and working with the people where they are — helping them get cards, helping them get access to library collections, answering their questions, connecting them with resources, et cetera.”

The levy lid lift also allowed FVRLibraries to increase its materials budget to $4.8 million for the 2026 fiscal year, according to a July 20 board of trustees packet, to add more books and other physical and digital materials to its catalog.

The Fort Vancouver Regional Library Foundation is currently funding the “Library of Things,” a collection of everyday items related to music and audio, crafting and sewing, tools and home projects, outdoor recreation, baking and kitchen equipment, tech and creative gear. Giltrop said the program has been “hugely popular” since it launched in November, and the library district will consider how to include it in future materials budgets.

“It’s really fun, because it allows people to try all sorts of things before they buy them or maybe they only need them once a year, and you can just get it from the library,” Giltrop said.

FVRLibraries announced in June that a new Washougal Community Library will break ground later this year.

The library district is currently out to bid for a general contractor for the new 14,000-square-foot building. Giltrop said the board of trustees will award a contract during its September meeting and the new library is set to open in 2028.

Also promised in the levy lid lift is the opening of a new community library in the district by 2030. Giltrop said north Clark County likely will be the site of a new branch, though official planning hasn’t started yet.