The Sequim Library recently lost one of its most ardent advocates.

Liz Phelps, a volunteer for several decades with Friends of Sequim Library, died at the age of 80 on May 27 after serving in many roles for the nonprofit group and helping provide hundreds-of-thousands of dollars to support the library’s activities.

Donna Day, Phelps’ Dungeness neighbor since 1994, said the former Boeing bookkeeper was a “hard worker and a really good friend.

“She knew plants more than anything,” Day said of Phelps. “She was sharp and a great reader.”

Phelps volunteered with the Sequim Prairie Garden Club, serving as its president for a few years, and as the Friends’ president and treasurer.

Sequim branch manager Emily Sly said Phelps was “very dedicated and always willing to be in a leadership position.”

Sly said the Friends group makes programming possible such as the Summer Reading Program, speakers and more. With Phelps’ leadership, the Friends group has also been supportive of the planned remodel and expansion of the 40-year-old building, Sly said. Group members say the nonprofit plans to donate six figures towards the project.

Phelps is survived by her son Gerald Rogers; her second husband Larry Phelps passed away in 2021, according to Day.

Keep the mission

Phelps was a constant figure at donation days and the monthly sale, volunteers said.

In recent years, the monthly book sale —held on the second Saturday of the month, with the next event set for 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday, July 8 — moved from behind the Sequim Library to Rock Plaza at 10175 Old Olympic Highway to accommodate the expansion.

Finding a new space was Phelps’ doing, said long-time volunteer Jean Rucker.

“Liz knew everyone in town,” she said.

Friends of Sequim Library’s acting president Lin Norris said with Phelps’ passing, they hope to have a meeting in the next three-four weeks to elect new board members and discuss potential next steps for the organization.

An announcement of the date will be made to local news outlets, she said.

For more information about Friends of Sequim Library, visit nols.org or sites.google.com/site/friendsofsequimlibrary.

Operations

Volunteers estimate thousands of books, movies and other media are donated each month.

Donors can drop off media from 9 a.m.-noon Mondays and Wednesdays, except the Wednesday before a sale.

The group has 14 volunteers, with eight of those helping at the monthly sale, so more help is needed in sorting and at sales, Norris said.

The Friends group raises about $30,000-$35,000 a year and makes a donation to the library based on Sly’s annual request to the group for the library. Phelps said in 2018 the Friends group also helped with a 2009 library remodel project by donating $150,000.

Norris said interest remains high in the monthly sales, “we seem to make the same amount of money; people are still reading printed materials.”

Before moving the group’s operations to Rock Plaza, the Friends’ building was used for many years for media drop-offs and monthly sales.

While the former location was nice for its proximity to the library, volunteers say, books would be left in the rain, people would leave garbage inside the 24/7 donation drop-off, the building didn’t have amenities like a bathroom, and it was cramped.

The old space behind the planned library expansion won’t remain after construction, but there will be some space for Friends of Sequim Library inside the main library, similar to what’s in the current lobby but larger, Norris said.

Pricing has stayed the same for many years at the monthly sale with books ranging from $0.50 to $1 to $3 (new hardback fiction), volunteers said.

“We want to keep the same accessibility and allow for people to explore and take a chance on a book so that it’s not a huge financial investment,” Norris said. “It’s an inexpensive way for people to entertain themselves.”

Volunteers do check some items’ prices online beforehand but they still try to keep items affordable, she said.

Items are rotated out to the Friends’ annex, the back of the room, due to condition, how long they’ve been on the shelf and other reasons, Norris said. Books and other items go for $0.25 there, and what doesn’t sell is sold by the pound to a wholesaler.

Nancy Drew, a retired elementary teacher, has helped with the Friends’ sales and volunteered two days a week for 28 years, with her latest task sorting biographies and history books, and jigsaw puzzles.

“I like to see people read, and it doesn’t cost a lot,” Drew said. “I also like to see kids grow up (who come here).”

What comes into the sale just depends on people’s circumstances, volunteers say, such as children going off to college, or someone clearing out their bookshelves.

Volunteer Roger Uhden has volunteered for six years and attributes Phelps to getting him started. He organizes the new hardback and Pacific Northwest books and said a perk of volunteering is all the new discoveries.

“One of the beautiful things is that you’ll see that book you want here, but you have to be patient,” he said.

To volunteer, stop in at Rock Plaza 9 a.m.-noon Mondays and Wednesdays or at any book sale with the next event held 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, July 8 at 10175 Old Olympic Highway.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Patrons look for items to purchase on June 10 at the Friends of Sequim Library Book Sale.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Nancy Drew, a long-time volunteer, sorts books on June 14 in Rock Plaza where the Friends of Sequim Library host their monthly book sale.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash Volunteer Roger Uhden has volunteered for six years with Friends of Sequim Library and attributes its late president Liz Phelps to getting him started. He asked her at a monthly book sale, “How can I see these before anyone else? ‘Volunteer,’ she said.”

Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ Friends of Sequim Library’s monthly book sale moved from its former building behind the Sequim Library to Rock Plaza as the library will be expanded and remodeled. Late-Friends of Sequim Library president Liz Phelps helped organize sales for the library and raised hundreds-of-thousands of dollars for its programming.