A little purple library opened Aug. 21 in downtown Edmonds – specifically aimed at helping people experiencing grief.

Located on the northeastern corner of the Windermere Real Estate building Cafe Louvre on 5th Avenue South, the Edmonds Grievers Library book box is hosted on the property of Sound Credit Union. Windermere Real Estate owner Greg Hoff stocks the books.

Started in  fall 2021 by Seattle resident Pamela Belyea, the library provides free grief books that cater to the needs of children, teenagers and adults coping with loss. These books are intended as sources of information, inspiration and most importantly, hope. People can borrow a book and keep it for as long as they need.

“We understand the profound impact of grief,” said Belyea, who now serves as the Griever Library’s executive director. “Our goal is to offer free biblio-therapy to individuals at different stages of their grief journey.” 

In addition to the Edmonds location, to date the Grievers Library has opened book boxes in Ballard, Vashon, Winslow, Kingston and Seattle’s University District. Three more book boxes are scheduled for installation this fall.

The Edmonds library originally had about 25 books when it was installed. Shortly after installing it, Belyea and Edmonds resident Wayne Myers returned to the box after lunch, and Belyea said she noticed one of the spiritual books was taken. 

“That seemed auspicious to me,” she said. 

Belyea’s work with the Grievers Library came after her 23-year-old son died by suicide in 2020. At that time, Belyea wrote an opinion piece in The Seattle Times that she was “left with 100 questions and no answers.”

“In those early months, I found books about grief written by grievers and grief experts alike provided a modicum of comfort,” Belyea wrote. She also found that finding good grief books was “plain confusing.” 

The Grievers Library operates on a non-commercial model. It is sustained by the selflessness of volunteers and the generosity of donors who contribute grief books, or “bucks for books.” Like a food bank offering nourishment to the hungry, the Grievers Library serves as a “love bank,” offering compassion and care to the bereaved, Belyea said.

“We are immensely grateful for the generosity of many in our community,” said Belyea. “Our book boxes are built with volunteer labor and donated materials; our office is outfitted with donated furnishings and supplies; and our book inventory is donated by individuals, authors and publishers, or purchased with donated funds.”

Belyea said a University of Washington library student chose the books for the “global library” on their website that lists grief books in public libraries around the world.

“The student chose our project because she had lost a really close friend the year before,” Belyea said. “She said that if this library had existed, it would have helped her so much. But it wasn’t out there. It doesn’t make sense to anyone who is not in grief. But for people who are in grief or who are bereaved, it’s a little bit of a help line for them.”

Myers said Belyea found him via Dunn Lumber in Shoreline, and he has since constructed six book boxes for Grievers Library, including one on Kingston and Bainbridge. The Edmonds book box is the second one he had personally installed.

“So far I have built six book boxes with six more in the next year,” Myers said. “[Pamela] is amazing!”

For further information, visit the Grievers Library website to make a book donation or to contribute funds to the library.         

– By Nick Ng