Library History
 In
1922-23 the Long-Bell Lumber Company under the leadership of Mr. Robert
A. Long, conceived and started
building the "Planned
City" of Longview. The Public Library was the first of R. A. Long's
gifts to the City of Longview. Mr. and Mrs. Long gave $150,000 to the
city to build a public library. A local book drive helped gather book
donations to create the original collection, and the Long's contributed
an additional $10,000 to purchase new titles.
The Library was dedicated April 26, 1926 with much fanfare and speeches
by Mr. Long and Dr. Henry Suzzalo, president of the University of Washington.
Miss Helen Johns was the first Librarian.
 The original building was
designed by architect Arch
Torbitt in the Georgian style
to match the grand design
for the Civic Center that
had been proposed in 1926.
During the early years of the Lower Columbia Junior College many of
the classes were held in the Library and it was the center of the college
until the Main Building was built in 1950.
 In 1953 the Library was extensively remodeled to make more
use of the lower floor for library collections. And in 1967-68 an expansion
was completed which tripled the floor space of the original building.
As the Library looks forward to the 21st century plans
are being made to bring it up to date for handicap access and for earthquake,
fire, and electrical safety and again to enlarge the building to accommodate
the information explosion and to accommodate present and future technological
growth.
The pictures on this page and
other historical pictures are from the Mark Morris Collection housed
in the Longview
Room. The room is open Wednesday afternoons from 3 to 5 and at
other times by appointment.
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