On Sunday afternoon, December 12, 1954, the McMicken Library, located in the McMicken Heights area of south King County, opens its doors to the public. The new library is the end result of efforts led by the McMicken Heights Improvement Club to secure both a site and the building itself. The King County Library System (KCLS) provides the books and pays the librarians' salaries. The McMicken Library and the nearby Valley Ridge Library, opened in 1960, will be merged in 1982 to form the Valley View Library serving both communities.
Demand for a Library
In the early 1950s the area of McMicken Heights in south King County just east of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was served by KCLS bookmobiles, which brought books to the community on a weekly basis during the school year and three times each month during the summer. Early in 1954 local citizens led by the McMicken Heights Improvement Club approached KCLS to discuss the possibility of providing a library for the area. In one early meeting a KCLS representative commented that "there should and could be one in the McMicken Heights area ... Those people do a lot of reading" (McMicken Heights Bulletin, January 4, 1954).
Throughout the year the Improvement Club took measures to sponsor and provide a facility for a new library, which members hoped to locate on club-owned property at 3730 S 166th Street. While grateful for the bookmobile service, the growing community wanted a greater book selection; other types of materials to check out, such as films and records; and continuous service in an established location. At first KCLS expressed reluctance at the proposal to locate the library on the property owned by the Improvement Club, but ultimately the club's proposed site prevailed.
To further its plans, the Improvement Club had circulated petitions asking citizens to voice support for a new library. It had also secured support from 65 individuals, clubs, and local businesses to contribute time, construction materials, and money toward the library effort. These efforts culminated in the donation by a local real-estate firm of a small 261-square-foot one-room building to serve as the new library. On a sunny Sunday, 14 club members moved the structure onto the Improvement Club property. A service contract with KCLS to provide librarians and books to the new library soon followed, with club president Henry Fichtner (1922-2006) helping to coordinate this and other final details between KCLS and the newly formed local library board.
Doors Open
The McMicken Library opened to the public for the first time on the rainy Sunday afternoon of December 12, 1954. Librarian Lois Olson (1932-2012), who would head the library until 1964, was on hand for the grand opening. Also in attendance was Ruth Gershevsky (1902-1996), the head of Adult Library Services at KCLS. One of the speakers at the opening-day celebration, library board president Mrs. Charles Gilbert, commented to the gathering that, she was sure, "theirs is the only library which moved its new book shelves in an ambulance" (McMicken Heights Bulletin, December 14, 1954).
More than 180 books were borrowed on the Tuesday following the opening, demand for the new library was soon borne out and more than 900 books were checked out in the two weeks of late December that followed. The first two weeks of January 1955 saw 1,100 more checkouts and by the end of that month 2,400 books had been circulated.
More Hours, More Space, More Books
The new library's popularity soon had other effects. Beginning in February 1955, the hours of operation were expanded from just two weekdays to three: Tuesdays from 1 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m., Thursdays from 3 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m., and Fridays from 3 to 5 p.m. Staffing was also increased, with four new assistant librarians serving between 1954 and 1960: Irene Carmichael, Eleanor Miller, Elizabeth Long, and a Mrs. Skinner. In August 1955, a children's story hour program was added, while a summer reading program reported graduating 68 students in October of that same year.
The McMicken Library remained at its first location until 1960, when it relocated to a larger 600-square-foot space inside the McMicken Community Club on S 166th Street. Later that same year, the Valley Ridge Library was established to serve the Valley View community just south of McMicken Heights.
In 1966 the McMicken Library relocated again, moving within the Community Club building. In both moves, the library increased its square footage and collection size, reaching 12,000 volumes with the final move. Even so, amid steadily increasing community demand KCLS eventually developed a plan and secured funding to merge the McMicken and Valley Ridge libraries to form the new Valley View Library, which opened in a newly constructed building in 1982.
