The Alternative Library building. Joe Addison // AS Review
By Stella Harvey
By the end of 2019, the Bellingham Alternative Library must vacate the Karate Church. On Nov. 5, the nonprofit created a GoFundMe fundraiser with a goal of $25,000.
In mid-October, the organization received a notice from their landlord to vacate by Dec. 20. According to the fundraising page, the money will go towards the cost of relocating the library to a new space, developing a new community print and publication studio and pay essential staff.
The Alternative Library is a cooperative lending library and community arts center that hosts concerts, film screenings, workshops and other events on a weekly basis, according to their website. The library also houses a small press store with books, zines, cassettes, records and art prints.
Cullen Beckhorn, better known as Future Man, is the director of the Alternative Library, and started the library 12 years ago. He said he was surprised by the notice that the library would have to vacate the Karate Church and find a new home.
“It’s a huge disappointment,” Beckhorn said. “We entered into this building under a verbal agreement that this was going to be our permanent home.”
David Zhang, the landlord of the Karate Church and a longtime volunteer at the Alternative Library, posted from the building’s Facebook account explaining why Zhang asked the organization to vacate. Zhang declined to comment further to the AS Review.
“I’ve just about burned myself out completely, partly due to creative differences with the director, partly due to overextending myself as a building owner,” Zhang’s post said. “So with great sadness and frustration I decided not to renew the lease and took my leave as a library volunteer.”
Nathaniel Kidd, a volunteer librarian, said he was also surprised to hear that the Alternative Library was being asked to vacate the premises.
“I think it will all be okay, but it’s a process, that’s for sure,” Kidd said. “Hopefully [it will be] a process of growth, and the organic nature of the library will kind of allow it to adapt to the new circumstances, but there’s a lot of uncertainty in the meantime.”
For the last three years, the southwest facing windows of the Karate Church have glowed with orange light on Friday and Saturday nights as people shuffle in through the front door.
Third-year student Neah Havens said she started going to shows at the Alternative Library during her first year at Western. This year she became a member and started checking out books. Havens said she was sad when she found out the Alternative Library was moving.
“Most of the time I’ve been at Western I’ve been thinking the [Alternative Library] is a really great resource for students, it’s really close,” Havens said. “I hope they find a spot where they can still do shows and everything and that’s in the main part of Bellingham.”
This is not the first time the lending library and community space has moved. The Alternative Library bounced between eight spaces before settling into the 130 year old church in 2015.
Over the years, Bellingham community members have volunteered hundreds of hours to make the space an accessible community resource, Beckhorn said.
On Oct. 17, the Alternative Library posted on their Facebook page, calling on their members and patrons to help find the library a new home. Since then, people have shared their positive experiences of participating in events or volunteering with the organization, asking their own followers to help the library in this transitional time.
“The Alt Lib is one of my very favorite places in the world,” Sophia Louize wrote in a Facebook post. “In this time of unexpected transition, it’s time to give back!”
As they raise funds and plan their next move, Beckhorn said the Alternative Library is currently looking at potential spaces they could move to in the new year. With a collection of over 9,000 books, they said it may be a challenge to find a permanent space in such a short time frame. Beckhorn said their next space might be temporary, but they are also looking at long-term, more permanent options.
As of Nov. 18, the Alternative Library’s GoFundMe raised $2,729 of its $25,000 goal. Beckhorn said the fundraiser will likely remain active into the new year so the library can update the community on their progress.
Beckhorn said in their last month in the Karate Church, the Alternative Library will continue to offer their open hours everyday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. and hold multiple events a week.
“There’s a really awesome community of people that surround this project, that have lended their tie to it and who’ve believed in it,” Beckhorn said. “So this is an invitation. If people want to be involved in the next iteration, it’s pretty easy. You just show up.”