Festivities are in the works for the Grand Opening of the Linwood Community Library (LCL) this coming Saturday, April 3. Everyone is welcome to visit the facility, meet the staff and founding committee, enjoy refreshments and music, and enjoy the décor.

The event is planned for 5 to 8 p.m., but come on the early side. Music will fill the air from 5:30 to 6:30 with Martha and Hannah Giddings joining Will and Jill Sanning as performers.  Children’s activities will include hand print painting the sign for the kid’s room.  Local restaurants will provide end-of-ski season appetizers.  The staff and many of the hardworking volunteers will be on hand to greet you. And you can even get a library card.

The Linwood Community Library is located in the former Snowshoe Welcome Center.  For those new to the area, simply take Rt. 219 to Rt. 66, then go about 1 mile east to the junction of Snowshoe Drive. The facility is off to the right. The setting is spectacular. A few hundred feet behind the building is Signature Green #5 of the Raven Golf Club course, with high mountains looming above the valley floor. Deer often come right up to the building to graze.

Snowshoe Mountain Resort is generously leasing the building to Pocahontas Libraries for three years at $1 per year. A joint partnership enables the Pocahontas County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and Linwood Community Library to share the spacious building to offer services both to our local people and our many visitors.

The local community has stepped up with amazing contributions of books, supplies, equipment and help.  Books are now on the shelves with more added daily. Seeing the shelving alone is worth a trip to the library. Built by Pocahontas Woods through funding from the Snowshoe Foundation, the wood units are highly attractive, functional and well-designed. Additionally, the Building Trades class taught by Duane Gibson with wood donated by Interstate Hardwoods, has just completed more wood shelving that will be used in the Children’s section and also for book sales. Other donated equipment items include computers, chairs, tables, desks and other furnishings from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Parkersburg, and carpet from Soaring Eagle Lodge.

The opening of The Linwood Community Library is a dream come true for the many people who gathered together last July at Shaky Jake’s to birth the idea for a library/community center.  The community has pulled together on this project. Much work lies ahead as funds need to be raised for operations and a new facility, as volunteers are needed to launch and operate programs, and as promotion is needed to engage the community.

This Saturday is a time to celebrate the great work already accomplished and the launching of a new era of community services in the Linwood area. So come out, enjoy a beautiful spring drive and celebrate with us!