(Pictured: The new, interim Pierce County Library branch in Lakewood.)

A new, interim Pierce County Library System branch has opened in Lakewood, two years after a longtime branch there was forced to close..

Seven days a week, the new library at 10202 Gravelly Lake Dr. SW. will offer full services and serve as a community hub and gathering place for all ages to learn and enjoy, officials said.

“Libraries are a destination for children and families to grow and nurture their love of reading with literacy-rich activities, as well as offering welcoming places for diverse communities to connect, and the Lakewood Library will definitely bring those needed services,” said Gretchen Caserotti, the library system (PCLS) executive director.

The 7,500 square-foot building opened Sept. 12, giving Lakewood residents their first in-city public library for the first time since the previous branch was shuttered.

“The community has been far too long without a library. We acknowledge it has been a long haul to open the interim library, and we thank the community for their patience and support,” Caserotti said.

The new library will provide learning resources and classes along with books and other materials for borrowing, plus events and offer community meeting spaces. The public can:

• Choose from 20,000 copies of books, movies and magazines, or place a hold on any of the more than 600,000 books and movies in the library system and pick it up at the Lakewood branch.
• Conduct research, do homework, or just have fun on one of the dozens of computers for public use.
• Reserve space for gatherings in the community meeting room.

Community members may recognize some parts in the new building from the previous library on nearby Wildaire Road Southwest. Caserotti said PCLS was committed to retaining furniture, books, and other furnishings from the previous library after it was closed in mid-2022 and slated for demolition because of structural defects in the 59-year-old building. Workers reupholstered some of the holdover chairs and benches. In addition, some of the tables, interior signs, and books, movies and computers in the new building are from the previous library. So is various artwork.

Outside its walls, the modular-style library building has a plaza where people can participate in classes and programs.

Library officials and the PCLS Board of Trustees are mulling options for a long-term replacement of the previous Lakewood branch.