Republic library lands nearly $10 million in grants for its expansion after Pride flag controversy last year

The Republic Public Library has reached a milestone for its expansion a year after a pride flag controversy.

Earlier this month, the Ferry County town of Republic was awarded a total of $9.3 million for the library's new community building - $8.3 million from the Department of Commerce and $1 million from mining company Kinross Gold. The 14,000-square-foot multipurpose building will house early learning resources, a community gathering space and a day care center for the area.

"Communities deserve the facilities that happen outside in the small towns, and it's really exciting to see the state investment and response to a grassroots effort to get something that serves some basic-level needs," said Emily Burt, member and building committee co-chair for Friends of the Republic Library.

The new community building project was spearheaded by Friends of the Republic Library, a local volunteer organization, a few years ago. Diane Engelking, president of the group, said the idea was to address the lack of resources in the community, especially the area's child care desert, with the closest services located in Colville.

"We're really excited and really fired up to provide something that our community desperately needs," Engelking said.

But obstacles and delays came up last year, including figuring out how to minimize the budget with tariffs and an increasing cost of living, Burt said.

"We had proposed a two-story facility that was 20,000 square feet, but everything has shifted funding wise, especially federal funding, in the last year and a half," she said.

Burt said the organization worked alongside an architect to get the building down to a single-story 14,000 square-foot building, with a budget total of $16 million. The project budget before was $18 million.

Among those challenges also included State Sen. Shelly Short, R-Addy, pulling her support from an appropriation request after residents complained about a pride flag hanging in the library.

Previously reported by The Spokesman-Review, a group of residents called the "Republic Library Changemakers" asked the board to write a flag policy, which would only allow the U.S. and Washington state flags to be displayed at the library.

Instead, a general display policy was passed, which gives library staff discretion to curate displays that represent the community's diverse and marginalized voices.

In a phone call, Short said, while she pulled her state funding request of $772,500 dollars for the expansion, she never stopped supporting the project. Short said she wrote a letter of support in the fall for the Department of Commerce grant application the library submitted.

"Those issues have resolved themselves within the community, which is the way it should be, so I'm happy to support it," Short said.

Burt said recent awards bring the total to $11.75 million dollars, which funds about 70% of the project and allows them to move forward with site prep.

"We start that site prep this summer. That's the plan, and then construction in the spring and summer of 2027 through 2028," Burt said.

Short said it's too late for her to request funding this year, but if there is a need, she will potentially do a request during next year's legislative session.

Burt said they are looking into additional grants this spring, with backed support from Short.

"There's some basic services that people don't have here," she said. "I think a lot of people who are not in very rural, very poor communities take that for granted."

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