Library Opens Henigson Wing Expansion to All of Orcas

— by Margie Doyle, updated June 25 at 10 a.m. —

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Historic crowds attended the dedication of the Henigson Family Wing, the “Next Chapter” expansion of the Orcas Island Public Library on June 23, 2017.

Director Phil Heikkinen proudly and happily greeted the hordes of islanders on a sun-soaked afternoon, and Library Board of Trustees President Tom Fiscus quipped, “The bad news is we’re out of food; the good news is the whole island is here!”

Fiscus commended the staff’s “dedication to community service that day in and day out give this library its heart.”

In thanking the Library’s Board of Trustees, Fiscus said, “The current board of trustees is part of a long line of trustees most of whom have shared the dream that the building behind me represents.” He then introduced an extended list of trustees, starting with the current board Regina Zwilling, Alex Conrad, Ben Luna and Martha Fuller. Three of the last four chairs have worked on the expansion beyond their tenure, beginning with Alan Lichter, who passed away in 2013, Rachel Newcombe “who encouraged us to go all in on expanding the library,” Donna Riordan, “whose laser focus on getting it right and assembling public support for the project was crucial,” and “my immediate predecessor Margaret Payne whose passion for the library, attention to detail, eye for design and bold spirit led us to the contract for construction last year.”

Payne and Riordan addressed the assemblage, and Riordan said, “There was uniformity and absolute consensus that we’re going to throw long, but even then I had no idea that it would lead to this. I’m so thrilled to be a part of this. This is a great community.”

Fiscus acknowledged the presence of Margaret Philbrick, the first volunteer librarian (1984-88) who “made a major contribution to the idea that the island’s  library should have a permanent home.” He then announced the dedication of the Margaret Philbrick Quiet Reading Room in the library. He recognized Victoria Parker, the first full-time library “for her service and for laying the groundwork for so much that has come forward.”

Fiscus thanked the non-profit Friends of the Library, saying “From the moment we committed ourselves in raising the money we had a wonderful partner and supporter in the Friends of the Orcas Island Library. Without hesitation the Friend immediately pledged $100,000 — hard-earned money. But it wasn’t just the money, it was the Friends’ enthusiasm.” Fiscus then introduced the current Friends’ President, Tim Lunde, who said, “There’s always going to be a Friends of the Library, going on and going forward to keep building the coffers to do great things.”

Through Senator Kevin Ranker’s efforts the state authorized $1.4 M in the 2015-17 biennium. “He’s been our state-level champion and we’re very grateful,” Fiscus said. He added, “We have a local champion, because we received $60,000 grant from the county for the stairs down to Library Park,”  before inviting Rick Hughes to speak. Hughes acknowledged the cooperation among the County Council members, Jamie Stephens and Bob Jarman, in authorizing the grant.

Liz LeRoy, project manager, was also praised; Fiscus said, “She’s guided us through the process of hiring the architects, and the contracting and the construction phases of the project. She’s smart and savvy and tough but a warm and charming person.”

Fiscus and Heikkinen also acknowledged the many individuals and agencies that had made the expansion possible, including previous board members, staff and volunteers.

HKP Architects Partner Julie Blazek spoke of the purposes of the project:

• learning and literacy
• community resource and cultural connectors
• environmentally designed

Blazek said, “The passion for the library, the building itself, and for this community was ever-present. There was more than ample healthy dialogue about:

• shelf space for books
• parking
• roof shapes
• mezzanine
• day-lighting
• landscaping
• and more parking

“We hope that all of you feel a part in this New Chapter for the Library and that your thoughts and ideals are reflected in the final project.”

Eric Hansen from HB Hansen Contractors spoke next: “What a wonderful experience this has been for the last year. It’s not that often we work a project with people with so many people with such a huge heart. This is truly a community. This is not a building or a garage or a parking lot, but a community center. We’ve had from 10 to 30 people on this project the last year every day. We’ve had nothing but awesome, fantastic experiences here; everyone’s treated us well and we really, really appreciate it.” He then thanked the HB Hansen construction team, “We really appreciate them.”

After Fiscus announced the dedication of library areas, and stating that some namings would be withheld until the families can participated in their dedication later this summer; Jim Connell and Susan Hall announced the dedication of the library’s music collection to Martin Lund.

At the event’s culmination, Fiscus read the board resolution naming the expansion the Hengison Family Wing. It read in part:

The Orcas Island Library Board wishes to acknowledge the Henigson Family’s indelible relationship with the library over many years, including:

• Bob’s service as a Library Trustee from 1997 to 2004;
• establishment and support of several endowment funds held by the Orcas Island Community Foundation for the benefit of the library;
• Bob and Phyllis’ donation of Library Park to San Juan County in 1997 as a quiet space for reading and reflection, and as a community gateway to the library, and through its permanent monument displaying the Bill of Rights as a reminder of American citizens’ constitutional rights;
• numerous contributions to planning and financial support of repeated efforts for a needed expansion of the library building;
• passionate commitment to early childhood literacy, lifelong learning and intellectual freedom through participation and financial support of several community organizations;
• donation of major funding by the Robert and Phyllis Henigson Living Trust for the library expansion project, completed in June 2017;
• strong participation and interest in the library’s funding efforts by Jeff and Ted;
• provision of a parcel adjacent to the library for use during construction project resulting in major cost savings;

Therefore be it resolved that the newly expanded portion of the library will be named the Henigson Family Wing.”

Phil Heikkinen then introduced Phyllis Henigson, who thanked the Library and community for its acknowledgment of the part that her late husband, Bob Henigson, played in the vitality and expansion of the Orcas Island Public Library.

Her remarks follow:

Bob loved this library. He also saw its value for our community, families stopping by to pick up books; children of all ages lost in their imaginations, community groups  conducting their meetings, only deepened his own engagement — he joined the board.

He shared with me his vision for Library Park, which became a reality when the case was made for the library’s expansion (and many of you who knew Bob are aware that a very good case it had to be). He put his energy behind it.

I often find myself thinking of how Bob might perceive of a certain situation or event were he still here. Of course I wish very much that he were. I know he’d be quite disturbed about the current state of American politics, particularly the contentious nature of relationships, the absence of cooperation and the failure of vision, of seeing the greater good and working together to reach it.

But I also know that he would be thrilled by this beautifully expanded Library. He’d be proud, not only of those of you who so generously donated your time, energy and money toward this project, but to all islanders, the entire Orcas community.

He thought about you in the library’s expansion: you voted to support it; you created a public good that serves all of us equally. That empowers our children and grandchildren to learn and grow. That gives us a place to convene and discuss and interact.

We are all happy to see this project come to fruition under the tireless effort and leadership of Phil Heikkinen and the board and through the generous contributions of our community.

Thank you all for coming here today to celebrate together the dedication of our expanded library.