Couve Scoop November 2024

Woodland Welcomes New Library

Residents of northern Clark County and Cowlitz County, and particularly those who love to read, recently celebrated the grand opening of a brand-new, expanded Woodland branch of FVRLibraries (FVRL). The building was decades in the making, says FVRL marketing and communications coordinator, Janet Alder. “Community members began talking about a new library in the early 2000s,” Alder says. “As the community grew and the technology needs of the public changed, the building began to feel very small for everything happening there.” Alder says the Woodland Community Library building fund really began with a generous $115,000 bequest from the estate of Margaret ‘Maggie’ McQuarrie in 2004. With this kickstart, Friends of Woodland Community Library and the FVRL Foundation worked for years to raise additional funds to support the new library project, and FVRL acquired the property site in 2017. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in June 2023, and construction began October 16, 2023. The new Woodland Community Library’s grand opening was held almost exactly one year later, on October 12, 2024. Visitors can expect a much larger space—the new library is more than triple the 2,376 square feet of the former building at 7,560 square feet. This space now accommodates more programming and offerings, including large and small rooms for meetings and study, separate areas for children, teens and adults, public computers and spaces to use personal laptops and devices, comfortable seating indoors and outdoors and an enhanced collection of library materials. The library’s adult reading area is named in honor of Maggie McQuarrie’s generous gift. Find the new library at 411 Lakeshore Dr., Woodland. Hours of operation are Monday-Saturday, 10 am-6 pm.

Starbird Theatre Soars into Vancouver

There can never be enough theater in Vancouver. That’s how a group of actors felt in the autumn of 2003 when they formed Starbird Theatre. The following summer of 2024 was a busy one for the troupe, as they performed “The Great Gatsby A Live Radio Show” in June, “The Tale that Wagged the Dog” in August and “For the Love of Dog” in September. Most of the shows are being performed at the Washington Grange on Ward Road in Vancouver, with the exception of “The Tale that Wagged the Dog,” which was performed at Vancouver Arts and Music Festival. “One of the fun things about not having a building is we can perform anywhere,” says Starbird’s artistic director, Gina George. “It opens a world of possibilities.” Rehearsals are being held at the theARTScentered building on Mill Plain, the former site of FVRLibraries’ headquarters. George says the best part of their most recent production was “bringing fantastic actors from all of the Vancouver metro area theaters together to perform, laugh and play together.” Many of the group’s actors and crew members have performed at Love Street Playhouse, Twilight Theater and Magenta Theater. Right now, the group is preparing for a holiday production of old-time radio shows and an upcoming four-show 2025 season. Learn more about upcoming theater productions from Starbird Theatre at starbirdtheatre.com.

Read the full November 2024 issue here: