West Shore Community Library Celebrates 30 Years of Volunteer Spirit

In 1996, a group of Lakeside community members unsatisfied with the lack of a mobile library in the area, gathered inside a resident’s garage and, with the support of about 30 likeminded volunteers, opened the Lakeside Library. Since then, the library has moved twice, changed names, and grown over triple in books and size.

This year, staff at the volunteer-run nonprofit West Shore Community Library are celebrating 30 years of provisioning communities along the length of Flathead Lake with books, children’s programs, and community resources.

“It’s supported by the community in a really robust way,” children’s Librarian Nancy Pensa said.

Since it’s humble beginnings, the library has operated entirely through donations and a volunteer staff. After two years in the donated garage space, the library moved to the Eisenlohr Lakeside Business Center, with rent subsidized by the Eisenlohr family and 4,500 books in its possession. Board members changed the name from the Lakeside Library to the West Shore Community Library to represent the community support it received from Somers, Rollins, Dayton, Elmo, Proctor and Big Arm.

In 2020, West Shore moved into the building the library is in today at Volunteer Park, the space endowed by the Flathead County Parks Committee on the premise it remain a library. Today, West Shore houses around 16,000 books. Patrons can access community resources like computers and Wi-Fi, along with a Flathead County Library kiosk that allows members to pick up and drop off books from the state library system.

“It’s been fabulous to have this resource in a very small town,” Susan Bagley said. She’s been the volunteer coordinator with the library for over 20 years. “We are very dedicated to keeping it going, keeping the lights on and the door open.”

“That being said, we are always looking for volunteers,” Reenie Sliney, the young adult librarian, added.

“We are,” Bagley said with a laugh. “Our volunteers truly are the backbone.”

There are currently around 12 regular volunteers at the library, though Bagley noted that the number fluctuates and will grow to about two dozen in the summer months.

While the library’s website is the most direct way to apply, a lot of interest comes from patrons in the library or neighbors of existing volunteers. Volunteers usually work for about three hours each week, Bagley said.

“We all have a love of reading,” Sliney said. “The library, it’s like it almost picks us.”

That’s how Sliney, the young adult librarian, came to West Shore around four years ago after she heard about the position from Bagley, her next-door neighbor.

With an undergrad degree in special education and master’s degree in curriculum, Sliney runs a thematic story time at the library for 2- to 5-year-olds. Twice a month in the library’s blue room she’ll read to a small group, followed by a craft in the same theme.

“We’re working on fine little motor skills or scissors, and I make it crafty, but something simple,” Sliney said.

Storytime at the library is held year-round at 10:30 a.m. on the first and third Tuesday of every month and no signup is required, Sliney said. “There’s no commitment, and I’m prepared for up to 20 kids usually.”.

Sliney also runs a book club for advanced readers in elementary school called “Page 406.” Once a month, they’ll meet on a Sunday afternoon while the library’s closed to discuss the book they read over the past month. They’ll watch the film adaptation followed by a “compare and contrast” discussion, and parents and little siblings will often attend the feature.

“I enjoy personally seeing the young kids that want to read a book and they’re excited about it, and that love of learning and curiosity,” Sliney said. “That makes me warm and fuzzy.”

The two children’s room – the blue and the green rooms – receive the most traffic at the library, Bagley said. Librarians also see a lot of retired and senior patrons and homeschool families looking for resources. Since the book clubs began, the library’s also seen an uptick in middle schoolers and teens.

In the summer, when Lakeside’s population booms with an influx of snowbirds and tourists, library patrons and storytime groups overflow.

Pensa, the children’s librarian, runs a summer reading program, following a program put out by the State Library in Helena. While West Shore is independently run, state librarians give Pensa access to the program’s information and graphics. Pensa creates prizes for each book read, followed by a large prize drawing at the end of each program, ranging from tickets for a kid and a parent to the alpine rollercoaster or a boat tour on Flathead Lake. 

“The community has been really supportive in giving me access to free things,” Pensa said. 

Turning 30 this year, librarians are looking forward to celebrating the birthday with several community events throughout the year, including a fundraising event inside Somers Mansion on Friday, Feb. 13, that involves a violinist and a chocolate fountain. To sign up, patrons can visit the library’s website at wsclibrary.org or come down to Volunteer Park.

“I can’t imagine this library closing without people being really upset about it,” Pensa said. “I mean, they come in and – it’s so nice – after they check out a book, they look at you and they say, ‘thank you for being here.’ They really do appreciate us here.”

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