Creswell Library Celebrates 20 Years of Public Service With Community Party

Cake, crafts and door prizes filled the Creswell Library on March 14 as the community gathered from 1 to 3 p.m. at 64 W. Oregon Ave. to mark two decades since the building made the leap from a volunteer operation to an officially chartered public library.

The milestone caps a transformation that began when the library left the historic Old Schoolhouse across from Creswell Bakery on 2nd Street and moved into a former clinic on Oregon Avenue. Since then, the library has undergone extensive renovations, acquired full ownership of the building and expanded until the space nearly doubled in size.

The numbers behind that growth are striking. According to director Nick Caum, 36,734 people visited the library last year and nearly 45,000 physical and digital items were checked out. Thirty-five volunteers help keep those doors open, a level of commitment Caum said speaks directly to how the town sees the institution.

"I think the volunteers are a great example of how we're supported by the community," Caum said. "The fact that we have that many people who are willing to come in for monthly meetings is pretty incredible. The community is definitely engaged in what we've got going, which is excellent."

Community ties run deeper than foot traffic. The Creswell Area Chamber of Commerce sends visitors to the library, and when the City of Creswell runs its annual Movies in the Park series, the library hosts the vote on which films will be screened. Youth services librarian Lindsey Quigley-Johnson has extended the library's reach into local schools, promoting services at Creswell High School and running the Oregon Battle of the Books program at Creslane Elementary.

Friends president Jeanne Barclay offered a personal illustration of how the library anchors new arrivals. Barclay, who moved to Creswell 18 years ago, said she walked into the library before she had even unpacked. "I actually came over here and applied just to see what was going on before I actually physically moved into my house," she said. "I knew nobody or nothing. It looked like a logical place to start."

The Creswell Public Library Foundation, which played a central role in funding the building that replaced the old schoolhouse, relaunched around December 2025 after going dormant during the pandemic. Joe Walters, pastor at Creswell Faith Center, serves on the foundation's board and was part of that reboot.

The library is open Monday and Friday from noon to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lane County residents outside the library's tax district pay $50 per household per year, though residents of Cottage Grove, Fern Ridge-Veneta, Junction City, Oakridge, Florence-Siuslaw and Springfield are exempt from that fee. The library can be reached at (541) 895-3053.