VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The Valley City Barnes County Public Library is 120 years old. The library has served the community since it opened October 5th, 1903. The classic Carnegie building is located on Central Avenue north in Valley City and is one of some 2,509 Carnegie libraries built across the U.S. from 1883 to 1929.
Library Director Anita Tulp said the 120th anniversary also included the Grand Opening of Di’s Den thanks to the generous donation by the Bjerke family.
In 2022, the Bjerke brothers of Travis, Tyler and Trevor donated $50,000 to the Valley City Barnes County Public Library. Travis Bjerke said our mother Diane dedicated to learning, emphasized this early by reading children’s books to us. He said what better way to honor our parents who instilled education as the bedrock for us than to donate $50,000 for their ongoing children’s library programming.
Library Board President Hilde van Gijssel said this is the largest monetary donation given to the library. She said we cannot thank the Bjerke Family enough for this gift. She also had this history lesson about how the library got started in Valley City.
Diane Bjerke served as the director of the Library from 1975-1977 and then, stepped back to raise her three sons. She also served as a board member and volunteer. She said the library is a special place.
The library served sandwiches and other goodies during their 120th anniversary celebration on Thursday, October 5th. The Valley City Barnes County Public Library opened October, 5th 1903.
