Goldendale, Washington
WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2025
Vol. 146 No. 29
$1.00
PHOTOS BY LOU MARZELES EXCEPT BISHOP FLOAT, CONTRIBUTED.
ONE OF THE BEST: The consensus among onlookers was that this year’s Community Days was the best in recent memory. Top: The Seattle Cosacks motorcycle stunt team dazzled the crowd. Left, the Rock Creek Band of the Yakama Nation took 1st place in the parade float contest. Above, a miniature train took riders around the block. Lower left, Bishop Sanitation took 3rd place in the parade float contest; lower right, GEAR took 2nd place.
Library board meets in Goldendale MELISSA UHLES
We don’t have the Fair Premium Book People have been coming to The Sentinel office and asking for this year’s Fair Premium Book. That’s understandable, since The Sentinel produced it at no cost to the Fair Board for 50 years. The board paid not a penny for the production, printing, and distribution of the book during that time. But last year the board opted to spend thousands of dollars of public funds to produce its own online-only version and did so again this year.
FOR THE SENTINEL
Established in 1950, Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries (FVRL) is celebrating 75 years of library service. The Goldendale Community Library is one of the 15 libraries in their network, having joined the district in 1973. FVRL is working on a new fiveyear strategic plan and a 10-year facilities master plan. These efforts will guide how FVRL grows, evolves, and serves communities in meaningful ways. The counties and communities included in FVRL are Skamania, Klickitat, Clark, and the City of Woodland. Olga Hodges, the FVRL board member representing Goldendale, along with County Commission Chair Ron Ihrig, Goldendale Mayor Dave Jones, Goldendale Library Manager Terra Mcleod,
CONTRIBUTED: HENRY DUYCK.
STATE OF THE LIBRARY: Jennifer Giltrop speaks at last week’s FVRL meeting in Goldendale. and other library staff from Vancouver were in attendance at a board meeting at the Goldendale Library last week. About 30 people from the Goldendale community came to participate in the conversation. At the start of the event, a slide show presentation told the
story of a 1940s librarian named Eva Santee who wanted to bring together libraries throughout Southwest Washington. Her efforts marked the beginning of what eventually became the FVRL system. The evening commenced with a talk by the executive director
of the Library District, Jennifer Giltrop. Giltrop said that in 2024, the FVRL system had: • 1.37 million visits • 1.89 digital visits • 3.8 million checkouts • 32k new cards issued • 450k Wi-Fi sessions • 99k program attendees She queried the audience if anyone ever asked why we still need libraries. The question is a common one to her, and she shared a list of answers about why the library is still vital to communities. Her list of programs and resources FVRL offers included: early literacy activities like storytimes; business resources; health and housing information; copier and fax machines; spaces to meet and work in groups; quiet places to read or work; information pertaining to employment and investing; LinkedIn Learning; Brainfuse for tutoring; and computers with Wi-Fi. She noted that in rural communities, in particular, there are still people without access to a good internet connection. That is why the computers and Wi-Fi provided by the library are greatly needed by some residents. The talk wrapped up by summa-
See Board page A8