The history in and around the Longview Public Library
Editor's note: In honor of the library's centennial celebration this weekend, read about the history of the department in this piece originally printed in 2023 and updated with upcoming event information.
The books at the Longview Public Library can offer an escape into other worlds. The building itself offers a path into Longview's history.
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Opened in April 1926, the library was not included on the list of places celebrating the city's 100-year anniversary in 2023. But the library was a major driver in the city's centennial celebrations that year, with historic displays, podcast episodes about the city's early days, and readings from books about Longview's history.
The library is now celebrating its centennial at 10 a.m. Saturday with birthday cake, displays of the library's history and more.
Community members will give gifts to the library at 10:30 a.m., and romance author Bethany Bennett will talk at 11 a.m. with refreshments and cake.
Bennett lives in the Pacific Northwest and is the author of the romance series Misfits of Mayfair and Bluestocking Booksellers, according to a library notice.
A ribbon cutting to open the new Rotary Meeting Room will also be part of the library's 100th birthday party.
The room is a new community meeting area on the library's main floor, according to a club notice. It is located behind the checkout desk and was previously used for storage. Groups can reserve the room for free.
Centennial history inside the library
Pieces of the city's history can be seen on the top floor in the Longview Room. The archive room is packed with more than a century's worth of documents, pictures and artifacts from the city.
Angela Stephenson has worked at the library for about 25 years and took over management of the Longview Room in 2017. Stephenson was born and raised in Longview, and her family history is dotted among the collections. In 2023, while helping a visitor look for information in the old Weyerhaeuser company books, Stephenson said she found information about her grandfather's job.
"It's fun answering people's questions. Every time I find out something new about the town," Stephenson said.
Stacked in a series of metal cabinets are several of the original blueprints for the planned city. Many of the plans were printed on thin linen, which Stephenson said lasts longer than paper.
The library is not one of the original buildings R.A. Long planned for Longview, but he invested heavily in building it after the city's founding. Long imported Italian marble for the interior stairs, and personally donated many of the original books.
"It matters not whether its users be graduates of schools and colleges - the door is open, and knowledge is within, awaiting whosoever has the desire and determination to seek it out and use it," Long wrote for the building's dedication.
Longview Public Library
People walk along a path near the Longview Public Library. The photo is featured in a dedication booklet for the building, printed on April 28, 1926.
The Longview Room still contains one of the original library books: Charles Wilkes's "Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition." The 1845 book, which chronicles a four-year oceanic journey that circumnavigated the Earth, was rare even when it was added to the collection.
The oldest records in the library that directly connect to Longview are a collection of postcards Wesley Vandercook sent to his family and friends. Vandercook was the chief engineer for Long-Bell and was dispatched to the Pacific Northwest to scout locations for R.A. Long's planned city.
The library has been digitizing 68 of the local blueprints so they can be viewed online. More than 50 blueprints had already been scanned and posted to the library's digital collection. This includes many of the original library plans, layouts for the entire Longview area, and schematics for places like the Rider Apartments and the Cascade Hills subdivision.
PHOTOS: Longview Public Library Longview Room
The archive room is packed with more than a century's worth of documents, pictures and artifacts from the city.
Most of the room's collection consists of historic books and pictures. The shelves are lined with decades of yearbook collections from R.A. Long High School, annual reports from the Long-Bell Company and minutes from the Longview Century Club's meetings.
The room is still adding to its collection of local history. Stacked alongside the books on one of the archive shelves is a copy of Cowlitz County-opoly, a local Monopoly edition released in 2023.
Longview Public Library
A woman stands at the librarian's desk in front of the stock room, according to the Longview Public Library's dedication pamphlet, printed April 28, 1926.
Evolution of the Longview Public Library
The first major set of improvements to the library took place in 1953. The renovations changed the location of the children's department, reference books and the library offices.
The second, larger set of improvements came in 1967 when the city built a huge expansion on the south side of the building. The expansion more than doubled the building's size to keep up with a population boom and then-record demand for library materials.
Circulation changes
The Longview Public Library's circulation has fluctuated throughout the years, according to The Daily News records and the library.
In addition to the extra space for books and meetings, the expansion built the parking lots at the rear of the building and established the Longview Room.
The expansion was paid for by a voter-approved $800,000 bond. According to accounts in The Daily News, it was the first bond ever submitted to voters by the Longview City Council.
Longview Public Library
People enjoy a Longview Public Library room in this undated photo in The Daily News archives.
Bond efforts to expand the library again failed in 1997 and 1999, both times getting narrow majorities from voters but falling far short of the 60% supermajority needed. The library's scope expanded around the same time that voters established the rural library district to serve residents in nearby unincorporated areas of Cowlitz County.
While the building has changed, the library's programs and collection have changed even more. Reels of film that cardholders could check out turned into VHS tapes, then DVDs, and eventually access to a digital video library.
"Lower Columbia College used to have music lessons downstairs. We had computer homework classes. At different times, there have been so many different things," Stephenson said.
Longview Public Library
Circulation clerk Marilyn Krumdieck punches Longview Public Library card information in April 1977 into a new computer terminal. The new system used bar code labels on cards and books to track inventory, circulation and overdues, similar to the system used today.
The library was added to the National Register for Historic Places in 1985 as part of the "Civic Center Historic District," which includes the circular park and the three large buildings that surround it.
The library continues to reorganize itself and add new programs. In July 2023, the staff swapped which floors hold the fiction books and nonfiction books, and a new mural debuted that May.
In 1998, the Longview Library Foundation was created as the library's nonprofit booster, fundraising to support library programs and help cover the cost of new projects.
Barrie Altenhof helped establish the library foundation, and her husband, Bob, was one of its original board members. Their daughter, Kate Altenhof-Long, currently serves as a board member.
"My mom knew the work and the challenges of managing a library, as well as how important a library is to the community," Altenhof-Long said via email.
The library foundation's focus in 2023 was restoring the library's bookmobile. The vehicle was part of the library's programming on and off over the last decade, with accounts from the 1950s and 1980s describing its trips to local hospitals and schools.
Drive-Thru Books
Library clerk Jenny Madsen neatens a stack of books in the new drive-thru window at the Longview Public Library in October 2022. The window, which is next to the drop-off bin on the back side of the library makes picking up book holds more accessible. Previously, people received books from staff and volunteers at a nearby doorway. Drive-thru hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
The new mobile library celebrated its first year of operation in March 2026 and regularly visits city parks and schools.
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This story was originally published April 21, 2026 at 4:24 AM.