Port Angeles library construction addressing compliance

Published 1:30 am Friday, May 29, 2026

PORT ANGELES — Recent construction work at the Port Angeles Library is affecting the Friends of the Library book sale and bookstore.

The Port Angeles branch of the North Olympic Library System, 2210 S. Peabody St., has been under construction since May 4 to update emergency exits and other features to meet current Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards.

“It’s actually a planned project that takes into account a number of different things,” Port Angeles Library manager Travis Porter said. “The primary thing that we’re doing is, essentially, the pavement has needed to be resurfaced for quite a while.”

The library needed to repave the pickup/dropoff lane in front of the building and learned the slope of the ADA curbs are out of compliance. That will be fixed along with the new paving work.

In addition, the emergency exit on the west side of the building sends people out onto grass with tree roots in it, and that’s also out of compliance with ADA standards.

“In order to better facilitate the emergency exit process, we’re building sidewalks so people can exit from the west end and the children’s department and the two walkways will meet up and lead out to the parking lot,” Porter said.

The library also is having concrete pads installed under the outdoor tables so those are wheelchair and walker friendly.

The project is about halfway complete and is expected to be finished just before the Fourth of July.

Another change to address ADA compliance will affect the Friends of the Library (PAFOL) book sale and bookstore.

“In our overall assessment of taking a look at everything, one of the things that was called up to our attention was that the Friends of the Library set out carts for our book sale in the lobby and what we found is that these book carts would restrict access to our meeting room,” Porter said. “That didn’t meet ADA compliance, so we have rearranged some things in the lobby to make sure there is not going to be anything interfering with access to our rooms.”

For the month of June, the PAFOL’s monthly Bag of Books sale will be Monday through Wednesday. The book sale will return to the regular third-Thursday-through-Saturday schedule in July, according to the PAFOL.

“From June forward, Bag of Books sales will be held in the Carver Room of the Port Angeles branch of NOLS,” according to a news release. “Customers can buy a new PAFOL book bag for $8 and fill it for free, bring their own previously purchased PAFOL book bag and fill it for $3 or fill a PAFOL-provided bag for $5. The Carver Room will be staffed with volunteers to facilitate sales.”

Books sold by PAFOL will remain in the lobby even when the bookstore is closed, PAFOL said.

“All lobby books will be priced at $1 and after-hours sales will be on the honor system with a cash box permanently installed in the lobby,” according to the news release.

The store hours are from 10:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturdays.

An unrelated change is the addition of Venmo as an option to pay for purchases.

“In this increasingly cashless society, the bookstore needs to step up and be able to accommodate our customers, especially younger customers,” bookstore manager Joy Vail said in the news release. “We think this will be very helpful for bookstore sales.”

In the next week or so, construction at the library will shift from the west side to the east side, Porter said.

During that phase, accessible parking spaces have been temporarily moved, but those spaces will return to their original locations once construction is complete.

Detour signs and flaggers are on-site to help direct traffic while work is being completed.

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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.