The Heart of Learning, Connection, and Community in Manchester.
Welcome to the Manchester Library, a Kitsap Regional Library branch serving Manchester WA and the South Kitsap community with free access to reading, learning, and connection. Located at 8067 E Main Street in Manchester, our library is a local gathering place for families, students, seniors, and neighbors who want a quiet place to read, reliable internet access, helpful staff, and community-centered programs.
Manchester Library: History of a Community Partnership
The Manchester Library – has always been owned and operated by the community of Manchester as a partnership. Currently, the partnership consists of:
This partnership is the latest in a progression. The Manchester Library was founded in 1947 in the corner of a hallway of the Manchester Shopping Mart. The books were provided by the Bremerton Regional Library, and the library was operated by volunteer librarians. The library soon moved to an unused chicken house and in 1953 to a community built 16’x 20’ building (on skids). The Manchester Improvement Club provided the fund-raising, and most materials and labor were donated. The Port of Manchester provided the location in a corner of their Manchester parking lot. The Friends of the Manchester Library (“the Friends”) came into being to meet the community obligation to provide maintenance, electricity, heat and insurance for the building – which they did with fund-raisers like the Salmon Bake. The Friends incorporated as a non profit in 1976.
In the late 1970s, the Friends became aware of a US Farm Bureau loan program for community buildings, and secured a loan – with the concurrence that the loan would be paid off with Salmon Bake fundraisers. With the loan and much donated material and labor, the first 1200 ft2 of the current library was ready for occupation in 1980 – and the 50-year lease with the Port of Manchester was established. Amazingly, the loan was paid off by 1986. The 16’ x 20’ building was moved to the leased property adjacent to the new building – and now housed the used-book store operated by volunteers from the Friends with donations of books from the community.
A grant from Kitsap County provided the money to mount a similar effort to add the Community Center to the existing Library Building. A corner of the new Community Center was set aside to continue the Friends’ Bookstore, which with the Father’s Day Salmon Bake and Plant Sales covered the expenses of the library operations.
After the library levy passed in Kitsap County in 2017, the Kitsap Regional Library (KRL) system initiated a “refresh” on existing library facilities. During the refresh design phase, it became apparent that the Manchester Library was too small for all the design ideas we wanted to incorporate (e.g., making one of the bathrooms handicap accessible, adding needed space for children’s programming and expand the community space). To achieve all our joint goals, the Friends started planning an expansion of the existing library building
In 2018, the Friends of the Manchester Library decided to add 900 square feet to the existing 2800 ft² footprint to accommodate expanded library programs without impacting the current community meeting space and book store area. Through the pandemic years, the Manchester Community raised $300,000 to help write this next chapter of our Manchester Library. In early 2022, KRL completed the interior refresh of the library portion of the building, and the expanded, “refreshed” Manchester Library opened for business at the Father’s Day Salmon Bake!
The expansion and refresh completes this next chapter in the Manchester Library’s story !!
