Friends of the Port Townsend Library
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funds programs, services, and materials beyond what the city’s library budget can cover.
Here’s what we support and supply
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About 1,500 programs since 2015, with more than 35,000 participants
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Book sales twice a year
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Annual Community Read, featuring books by local and nationally known writers
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Author talks and events, for all genres of bibliophiles
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Summer Reading Program for all ages—
a different theme every year
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Books for Babies—a bag and board book for every new mom and baby born at Jefferson Healthcare
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Children’s storytimes and sing-alongs
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Programs for teens
New!
© EDWIN DENCE
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Book Lovers’ Café book club
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Book club kits, each containing ten books, available for any book club
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Unusual items to check out—sewing machine, bear vault, daypack with binoculars, fly-tying kit, and more!
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Check out our book sales, two times a year
As of 2024 each April and October, the Friends holds a sale of high-quality books at the Community Center in uptown Port Townsend, on the corner of Lawrence and Tyler Streets. These big book sales, along with regular pop-up sales, attract book lovers and folks seeking to learn more about Port Townsend and its Carnegie library. The proceeds go to support programs at the library, StoryWalk at Kah Tai Lagoon, and many more Friends’ efforts on the library’s behalf.
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We sell donated books, as well as some from library surplus. Teams of devoted volunteers cull, sort, and ready the books for transportation, storage, and final sale.​ Contact us if you’d like to volunteer!
Friends Bookshop
Beginning on February 13, 2023, the Friends opened a bookshop in the Library Learning Center (a.k.a. Pink House, next to the library). Stocked with wonderful books, digital media, puzzles, and games, the Friends Bookshop is open Mondays and Thursdays, 12:30–4:30 pm.
Closed during Pink House restoration
Our bylaws
Established in 1978, the Friends revised its bylaws in 2020 to better align with best practices for Washington State nonprofit organizations.
There is not such a cradle of democracy on earth as the Free Public Library, . . . where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration.
Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919)