The Yale Valley library was built on land owned by Woodland Public Schools and leased to FVRL to provide this resource to the area
A partnership between The Yale Valley Library District (YVLD), A local library district managed by the Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries (FVRL) and Woodland Public Schools resulted in a dedicated library location right next door to Yale School, Woodland’s remote elementary school serving Yale Valley students in grades K-4. Even with increasing access to broadband internet service, local library systems like YVLD and FVRL provide valuable and needed resources to communities, particularly those in remote areas, throughout Washington state.
With the Yale Valley library located a short walk across a school field, Yale’s teachers regularly take their classes to the library so students can learn how to use the many resources offered by the robust FVRL library system. Lesley Miller, senior branch supervisor for both the Yale Valley and Yacolt library locations, guides students through a variety of activities to help familiarize students with how to use a library to find primary resources for research, write papers, and simply access books and other materials.
The Yale Valley library was built on land owned by Woodland Public Schools and leased to FVRL to provide this valuable resource to the area. Prior to the dedicated facility, Woodland Public Schools partnered with YVLD to provide library access within Yale School itself where FVRL librarians would regularly bring requested books for area residents in addition to maintaining a rotating selection of books on shelves located in the school.
The grand opening of YVLD’s Yale Valley location took place on September 2020, providing area residents with access to a dedicated facility offering the ability to check out books, movies, board games, and more in addition to having access to free wireless internet service, printing and copy machines, book-hold requests, and more.
The dedicated facility means residents have even more access to the FVRL’s many offerings. “It’s not always convenient to go into Vancouver or Woodland to visit a library,” said Miller. “By offering book-holding services, our users can request books and other resources either online at home or from within the library itself, with those requested items brought in and held for them.”
While not staffed during all of its available hours, area residents can still access the Yale Valley library during its hours of operation using library cards which also serve as security-card check-ins to access the building. “People are often surprised that they can still access the library without support,” said Miller. “In addition to immediate access to all the resources, we also provide a self-check station where you can check out and return books, all without staff assistance.”
The library provides wireless internet access to patrons with the facility also featuring two dedicated computers for residents to use if they do not have their own devices. Additionally, library users can check out Chromebooks and even wireless internet hotspots to take home, all free-of-charge. “Since internet access can often be relatively sketchy in remote areas, we offer internet access using Wave service, which tends to be both more reliable and faster than many offerings available to our residents,” said Miller. “Community members can also make copies or print documents – every patron receives $3 worth of free copying and printing services and can even print documents to the library from their home computers over the internet.”
The Yale Valley Library will also start offering additional services for both youth and adults. “In addition to story time and activities for children, we plan to begin offering programming for adults, too,” said Miller. “Library cards are available for free to the residents of Yale Valley, and I really encourage people to check out our website to learn about all the resources available with a library card where users can download ebooks to their Kindles, borrow board games, and even access free practice tests for the SAT and ACT standardized tests in addition to sample tests for nursing programs and much, much more.”
The opening of the FVRL Yale Valley Library represents a culmination of decades of planning for Miller and many of the residents in the area. “We raised our children out here and have gotten to watch this library develop from the ground up,” she said. “The concept has been in development for many years so it’s been exciting to see it all come together.”
Learn more about the Yale Valley Library District and Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries (FVRL):
The Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries (FVRL) seek to strengthen the communities they serve through knowledge, experiences, and creativity by valuing and empowering all of the citizens whom they serve. You can access all of the FVRL system’s online resources including signing up for a library account, requesting book holds, or even printing from your home device to a local location at the YVLD website located at www.fvrl.org/loc/yale and the FVRL website located at www.fvrl.org.
The FVRL Yale Valley library operates during the following hours of operation:
Unstaffed Hours:
Monday: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tuesday-Thursday: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Friday-Sunday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Staffed Hours:
Monday: 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday: 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Thursday: 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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Learn more about how Woodland Public Schools educates students and serves the community, by visiting the dedicated news webpage at www.woodlandschools.org/news/wsd
Information provided by Woodland School District.
