A small library with a long reach.
The Reardan Memorial Library is the town’s front door to books, research, and free digital resources, and a single library card opens up far more than its shelves. Here is what is available to every resident, student, and curious visitor.
The Reardan Memorial Library
An independent, community-run public library in the heart of town, sharing a building with Town Hall. It is small in square footage but rich in what it offers, and the librarian is glad to help you get started.
More than the shelves suggest
The Reardan Memorial Library holds several thousand volumes and serves the whole community, but its real value reaches well past its walls. A single free library card unlocks ebooks and audiobooks, research databases, and children’s reading programs. The library also houses a large-format scanner used to preserve the town’s history, and it doubles as a community anchor, currently serving as a drop-off point for local food pantry donations.
New here? Stop in during open hours and ask the librarian for a card and a PIN. That is all it takes to open the digital door described below.
Shared with Reardan Town Hall
The digital library never closes
This is where a small-town library truly levels the playing field. With a Reardan library card, all of the following are free, from home, at any hour.
Ebooks & audiobooks (Libby)
Borrow ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines free through the Libby app, checked out for 14 or 21 days and returned automatically. Read on your phone, tablet, or e-reader, no late fees ever.
Research (Gale databases)
Students and lifelong learners get free access to Gale’s research databases: articles, references, and periodicals for schoolwork and projects. Sign in with your library card number.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
Every child in Lincoln County under age five can receive a free, age-appropriate book in the mail each month, addressed to them, until their fifth birthday. A wonderful head start on reading, at no cost to families.
Getting your card and PIN. Most of these services need a library card number, and sometimes a PIN. Call the library at (509) 994-9997 or stop in during open hours, and the librarian will set you up. Because the system uses bar codes, your card number is padded with leading zeroes to 14 digits when you sign in to the databases.
The library is keeper of Reardan’s memory.
With grant support from the Washington State Library and the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Reardan Memorial Library digitized its old photographs and scrapbooks and added them to the statewide Washington Rural Heritage collection. Anyone can browse them online: search “Reardan” in the advanced search. It is a genuine primary source for the town’s story, and the same collection helped inform our own History of Reardan page. Explore it at washingtonruralheritage.org.
When you need a bigger branch
For a larger collection, meeting rooms, public computers, or programs, several full-service libraries sit within a reasonable drive. Distances are approximate driving miles from Reardan.
A note on library cards. Reardan sits in Lincoln County, so it is outside the Spokane County Library District’s free-card area, which covers towns like Airway Heights and Cheney. You are welcome to visit those branches, but borrowing may require living or owning property in their district, or a paid non-resident card. For most Reardan residents, your own Reardan Memorial Library card plus its digital services is the simplest path. When in doubt, ask staff at either library.
Learning beyond the library
Free, reputable online resources any Reardan resident, student, or visitor can use, no card required.
Washington State Library
The statewide library system, with services, catalogs, and digital collections that support small local libraries like Reardan’s.
Washington Rural Heritage
Digitized photos, documents, and stories from small Washington communities, including Reardan’s own contributed collection.
Digital Public Library of America
Millions of free books, images, and records from libraries and archives across the country, all in one searchable place.
Project Gutenberg
More than 70,000 free classic ebooks in the public domain, ready to download and keep, no account needed.
Khan Academy
Free lessons and practice in math, science, and more, for students of every age. A great companion to schoolwork.
WA State Talking Book & Braille Library
Free audiobook and braille services for Washington residents who cannot read standard print, mailed at no charge.
About This Page
This page is part of Discover Reardan, an independent community guide to Reardan, Washington. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to the Reardan Memorial Library, the Spokane County Library District, Spokane Public Library, the Washington State Library, or any other library, program, or organization named or linked here. All names, logos, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are used for identification and informational purposes only. Library hours, card eligibility, programs, and digital services change, so please confirm details directly with the library before you visit or rely on a service. The card graphic shown is a decorative illustration, not a real or usable library card. Distances are approximate. Links to outside sites are provided as a convenience, and Discover Reardan does not control their content.