Events for the Manchester Library Branch

Location for all events: Manchester Library Branch

Event Questions: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   or Phone: 360-871-3921

All Other Questions: "Ask a Librarian"

	Book Discussions - Book discussions are a forum where readers can come together and talk about books and the reading experience. You'll find when your library branch book group will be meeting and what we'll be reading. Newcomers are always welcome!
	Children's Events - We have storytimes for babies, for toddlers and for families. There are craft projects for all ages and plenty of fun events for your school-age child.
	Friends of the Library - Each of our KRL branch libraries has a Friends of the Library group. These groups are private nonprofit organizations that are dedicated to enhancing the branches through fundraising and advocacy efforts.
	Special Events - There are film nights, game nights, crafts and more. The Manchester Branch hold ongoing meetings for Kitsap Homeschoolers. Come and join this group to discuss common problems and challenges, share ideas, and create a network of friends and information. See more details here.
	All Events - You will find a printable list of all the events we offer this month at the Manchester Branch.

History Manchester Library

The Manchester Library’s history is really the story of the people in our small community. From the beginning settlers believed that a local library would be vital to the well being of the community and they were willing to put those beliefs into action. Our story has many vibrant threads woven together into the fabric of time and community.

Manchester is nestled on the shores of the great Puget Sound. It is a place where everyone knows his neighbor, a place where community responsibility is valued. Its roots go deep into the past, beginning on October 10, 1871 when Washington was still a territory and steamer ships were calling.

The library began with a single citizen’s belief that a strong community needed a library. That citizen was Mary J. Sanford, who owned the local Manchester Shopping Mart and was a member of the county’s rural library board. She donated a corner of her business to be the “library”, and organized the first library committee, which took responsibility for volunteer staff, furnishings, heat, and light.

The Manchester Library opened for business on July 1, 1947. Money was raised by collecting donations, giving round-robin parties in which each guest donated 25 cents, and passing “market baskets” from house to house for neighbors to donate baked goods, jam or other foods. Each neighbor could then take out what he or she wished from the basket with a donation to the library fund.

By 1948 the Kitsap County Rural Library was providing books and the operation moved into a slightly renovated donated chicken coop! In 1953 the chicken coop was torn down and the library moved temporarily into the Manchester Improvement Club building. The following year a 16’ by 24’ modular building was constructed on Port of Manchester property, all completed with donations of money, materials and labor from the local citizens. The library had found a real “home”, which lasted for twenty-six years.

In 1976 the newly re-chartered Friends of the Manchester Library became a registered nonprofit organization, decided to build a permanent building and applied for a loan from the Farmer’s Home Administration. The FmHA was skeptical that a community group could repay a loan with fund-raising as its only source of income, but in the end granted the loan. It was the first of its kind for a library. With a library grant (from the Kitsap County Library), donations, and many hours of volunteer construction, the building was completed in 1980. The FmHA loan was paid off in 1986, thirty-four years early! In 1994 a county grant helped pay for an addition that expanded the library’s space and provided a community meeting room.

Mary J. Sanford’s daughter, Louise Pedersen, volunteered for nearly 20 years before becoming a paid librarian in 1965. The community room built in 1994 is named in her honor. All of the money needed to build and maintain the building has been raised, borrowed, or solicited by a devoted group of volunteers, whose families and friends still keep the building open nearly 60 years later.

The people of Manchester cherish their library, and continue to find creative methods to raise money and support it. One example is the recycled wood from the original chicken coop that was saved and in 2003 a local craftsman turned into a steamer trunk that was raffled off. The primary fund-raiser has been an annual Father’s Day Salmon Bake. The salmon is cooked over an open alder fire as the community gathers for a sociable afternoon. To honor this tradition, a leaping salmon is the library’s mascot. The library gardens sport a donated metal sculpture of “A Fish Called Wanda Fuca” (a fun reminder of the movie by a similar name and the nearby Strait of Juan de Fuca). Other fund-raisers include operating a store of used books, organizing fun runs, bake sales, an annual plant sale and a annual raffle of donated home-made quilts and wood-works from local community artisans. A nearby restaurant also hosts a Penny Jar which collects hundreds of dollars every year in donations.

Our beloved 2800 square foot library is surrounded by pristine gardens designed, donated and maintained by volunteers from the community’s Long Lake Garden Club and the Friends of the Library. The gardens are a water-wise teaching garden, used to demonstrate environmentally sound gardening techniques and educate the public on local flora. The gardens also feature a recent donation of Native American Art called Whirlwind Moon by James Kelsey. The lush gardens have also been used to raise money through several “Dessert in the Garden” events held outdoors in the balmy days of late August.

Today the library is supported by a wide variety of groups and individuals from the community. It owns the current building and rents the land it sits on for $1.00 a year from the Port of Manchester. It supports the community in return by giving books to the local veterans home, a domestic violence shelter, a local hospital, and to a women’s prison. It also maintains a memorial and surrounding gardens built by the American Veterans of Foreign Wars.

The Friends of the Library support the community by coordinating and funding entertaining and educational programming for children and adults. They help pay for a summer reading program, special holiday and seasonal programs, and guest entertainers and educators. Classes are as diverse as the population. One evening it might be belly dancing and the next a movie fun night for teens with free tattoos by local artisans.

The Manchester Library is now part of the Kitsap Regional Library System and offers the wonders of technology, sporting a WiFi connection, ebooks, Internet stations and an electronic catalog with 19,000 electronic format journals and dozens of Research Databases. The library is open six days a week, has weekly children’s story times, a book discussion club, and the meeting room is filled with citizens who can rent it for an economical fee.

In the end it is our library that proudly represents our communities volunteerism and sense of community. It is our library, which the people have rallied around for decades and it is our library that is central to the feeling of community. It is the living heart of our community.

Friends of the Library              

The Friends of Manchester Library meets regularly once a month on the fourth Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. in the library meeting room. The library building operating expenses are paid entirely by this community group. The volunteers in this group raise funds through the annual salmon bake held on Father's Day, collect proceeds from their well managed bookstore that is open during library hours, and gather rental revenue from the meeting room. Donations also help pay expenses. The Friends group welcomes new members.

Manchester Friends Officers ... President is Eric Cisney; Vice President is Gigi Weixler. John Winslow is Secretary.  Carol Campbell is Treasurer.

Meeting Room              

The Manchester Branch Library meeting room, named the "Louise Pedersen Community Room" (after a former librarian), is available to groups at reasonable rates. The room includes a refrigerator, microwave, TV and VCR, and coffee pot. For commercial use, the rental fee is $20 for the first 2 hours, and $10 for each additional hour. For use by non-profit and government groups, fees are $15 for the first 2 hours, and $5 for each additional hour. All periods include set-up and break-down time. For further information and scheduling requests, please contact the library staff during library hours.

Click here for information on reserving other library meeting rooms.

Manchester Book Worms

Manchester Book Worms Book Discussion Group meets on the third Tuesday of each month in the Manchester Library Louise Pedersen Community Room 7-8:30 p.m. Check the Events calendar for sales dates.