Story time with Swinomish elders, a boxcar derby, Dungeons & Dragons, tribal history programs and more craft activities for all age groups are some of the ideas that emerged from conversations with locals on how the La Conner Swinomish Library can improve and better represent them.

Last Thursday, community members from both sides of the channel gathered for two open house sessions at the Swinomish Senior Center and the library, where they took a survey and chatted with a La Conner Community News reporter.

At the Senior Center, Elder Advocate Tashina Villaluz pointed out the library’s role as a bridge between La Conner and the tribe, with the latter contributing $850,000 since 2019 for the construction of the new facility.

As the former tribal liaison for the Whatcom County Library System, she recalled how the library put together “curriculum kits” to help Whatcom teachers educate students on the Coast Salish people and the topic of tribal sovereignty — something that the La Conner Swinomish Library could consider providing to the local school district, she said.

Another way to strengthen the bridge between the two communities — and to involve both children and seniors — could be to bring Swinomish elders to share stories, Villaluz said.

As more Swinomish people use the library, the library and the tribe could partner to use the building as a venue for cultural events where anyone is welcome to attend and learn, said Dennis Dan of Swinomish.

At the La Conner Swinomish Library, Katryna Barber said the library and the tribe could come up with ways to bring La Conner patrons to the other side — and not just the other way round — as another way to improve connections.

Dan praised the library’s staff as “an excellent, non-threatening resource” whenever he has needed help with tasks involving technology, which can be helpful for seniors who are less — or not at all — tech-savvy.

At the same time, libraries could help the children of today’s post-pandemic, hyperconnected world wean off screens and get excited about reading. One way this could be done, he proposed, is by strengthening relations with the local school district to bring in students on a regular basis, or by introducing kid-friendly incentives like pizza gift cards to reward the children who read the most books.

Thus, he said, youths might begin to value libraries as an important tool. The earlier they are exposed, the more comfortable they will be using them for their studies and personal enrichment later in life.

On the topic of making the library more appealing to children, Dan’s wife Noreen David Dan pitched a tie-dye station, needlework craft classes and even hosting a boxcar derby in La Conner, with the library serving as a car-building lab for young racers, similar to what her local library in California did back when she was a child.

Connie Allen, another Swinomish senior, said she’d like to see more activities geared for working adults, as elders and children have resources such as the Boys & Girls Club or the Senior Center. A crafter herself, she suggested an “easy craft night” open to all age groups.

Richard Vendiola, the library’s Swinomish liaison, said he was happy to see that a good number of people showed up to the La Conner open house to provide their input. Echoing several survey participants, he said the library is a good place for people to learn, socialize and rest.

Some appreciate it for not being “too quiet,” meaning it’s “alive, busy and thriving,” as an unnamed respondent wrote on a sticky note at the library. Former library board member Robert Hancock, of La Conner, said he appreciates how children are free to play without grown-ups getting upset.

Vendiola said he’d like to see more Swinomish folks visit the library, particularly elders, but acknowledged the distance and that some may face transportation barriers. A possible solution to this, he said, could be asking the tribe to make more use of its buses to bring older folks to the library.

Another ideal change he mentioned would be to expand the building to accommodate old books and classics that are never checked out. That way, instead of being removed from the library to make room for more popular books, they can remain in the collection for whomever might need them in the future, he said.

Looking forward, some of the activities the library hopes to offer include bringing Swinomish elders to read books to children, Dungeons & Dragons sessions (which was requested by a few young survey participants), and, starting in February, social craft sessions for people of all ages and skill levels.

For National Poetry Month, which is celebrated in April, Vendiola hopes to bring Rena Priest, a Lummi Nation poet who was appointed Washington state poet laureate in 2021, becoming the first Indigenous poet in the role.

Luisa Loi is a general assignment reporter for La Conner Community News.