Bellingham Public Library - History

History

Bellingham Bay Public Library and Fairhaven Library were originally established separately in the early 1890s. Bellingham Bay Library began in 1891 as a subscription library and became a free library in 1903. In 1906, the city of Bellingham received funds from the Carnegie Corporation for a permanent building, which was constructed in 1908 and used until 1951, when the current Central Branch library building was opened.

The Fairhaven Library also began as a subscription library in 1890. Fairhaven Library received funds from the Carnegie Corporation for a permanent building, which was completed in 1905 and is used to this day. The Central Library and Fairhaven Library were consolidated into one library system in 1903, when the towns of Fairhaven and Whatcom joined together to form Bellingham.

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