The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Ben Bertroch, a rescued dog owned by Karen Bertroch, has been volunteering for the Agnes Appelo Memorial Library at the Appelo Archives Center in Naselle. Karen volunteers in the library sorting, shelving and accessioning books. Ben's "job" is to greet visitors, be kind to children, and help in any way he can. The two are there on Saturdays working with the other library volunteers: Anita Raistakka, library manager; Don and Anneli Raistakka, and Sadie Lehr.

Visitors are often impressed with the number of books and the quality of the collection which has many books well over 100 years old. Agnes Appelo, mother of Carlton and Burton Appelo, loved to read and she taught her sons to love reading, too. Their books make up the foundation of the collection. There are also a large number of Scandinavian language books in the Nordic section with the majority being Finnish. Those books have been donated from all over the country. Anneli speaks and reads fluent Finnish so she translates titles, authors' names, and subject material.

The English language collection has 100's of books featuring local authors, local history, fishing and seafaring, American history, the World Wars, the American west, women's history, Native American history and other topics, as well as collections of historic journals and records. Newly donated and released books are being added all the time. The most popular section is definitely the logging books.

Most of the English collection can be borrowed as long as the books are checked out by a member of the Archives Center. The cost of membership is kept reasonable with the hope that as many folks as possible will use and enjoy the library. Visitors often become members to show support for the Archives Center's library. New volunteers are always welcome at the center.

The library is also focused on setting up displays among the shelves and in its rooms. It's hoped that as community members sort through their own books, they may decide to donate any that would add to the collection's variety. The center's library is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., or call Anita Raistakka at (360) 484-3376 to set up a visit at other times. The Appelo Archives Center is located at 1056 SR 4 in Naselle.