Move to new Rosalia library complete after line of volunteers passed books down the street

Children’s author Laura Joffe Numeroff once said, “If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to ask for a glass of milk.”

If you give more than 30 people in Rosalia, Washington, 52 minutes to move 1,800 books, they are going to ask for ice pops.

On Tuesday, volunteers showed up at the Rosalia Community Center, which has been acting as the library’s temporary building, before lining up on the street to pass the books to the new location before rejoicing with air conditioning and popsicles when they completed their mission in less than an hour.

The original building for the Rosalia branch of the Whitman County Library flooded, forcing the library to be moved to the small town’s community center in September, branch manager Marcy Campbell said.

The new building is ready, and the only items that were left to be transferred to the location a couple of blocks down the street were the books. That’s why more than 30 community members lined the street at 10:30 a.m. to pass the books down to the new library, Campbell said.

“We just have a huge library community here and a lot of people who just wanted to do this,” she said.

Rebekah Huber, volunteer and Port of Whitman County employee, said the port serves the entirety of the county and supports the library, so she wanted to show up to help the community alongside Georgia Meyer, another volunteer and port employee.

Huber said she began her position at the start of the year and wanted to get involved in the community. She attended high school in Colfax and moved back after college.

“I wanted to be able to have more of a connection to other communities across Whitman County, so that’s part of the reason I’m here,” she said. “Also, as a port, we just want to be able to be in communities across Whitman County.”

Meyer said she just graduated from high school, but she has been an intern with the port since the fall.

“I’ve done a lot of office work, so I haven’t gotten to get out of the office and come to these events,” she said. “I’m excited to be here.”

Evelyn Hughey, 7; Delaney Hughey, 5; and Della Hughey, 4, all helped pass the books because they love the library so much.

Della said she had fun passing the books, but she is also looking forward to the library’s story time events.

Retired librarian Clancy Pool said people enjoy helping with events such as passing the books, and while it’s a one-day volunteer opportunity, watching people show up to help the library made her happy.

Library director Cody Allen said the new building is great, but a capital improvement grant could be in the near future for the building, which would help pursue touch-ups such as reflooring.

A grand reopening will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at its new location.