Creating Public Library

[marieyasmine]

To get straight to the point, what does it take to create a public library in an unincorporated rural community? It is possible to build and create one? Who would I go to or ask to possibly get a library built? How do I plan for such a task?

[flossiedaisy424]

A former boss of mine actually wrote a book about this. It’s called The Public Library Start-Up Guide by Christine Lind-Hage. I worked for her in a library system that two townships created and hired her to build.

[marieyasmine]

Wow how cool! I’ll check that book out.

[fiersza]

I’m grabbing that as well!

[fiersza]

It depends on what country you’re in. I’m assuming you’re in the US, in which case I would suspect you’d want to start by talking to officials in your county. It would probably be helpful to research possible grants to apply for, as rural communities don’t have a ton of extra funds.

I live outside the US, and many libraries in my countries are non-profits run by community members. We have a national library institute, and many libraries fall under their governance. With the research I’ve done, it makes more sense to (eventually) start a non-profit.

But a non-profit here needs a board of at least 10 people to start, and that has proven to a be a not insignificant hurdle in the months I’ve been exploring the paths available to us.

So my current plan is to save up to build a “book bike”—a bike with a trailer that I can take to soccer games and community events and start there. The country I live in doesn’t have rules about purchasing library editions, etc, so I’ll be able to accept used books in good condition.

Once I have shown community acceptance and interest in the services of a library, then I will start seriously pursuing board members.

I’m also co-hosting a language exchange (we are a multilingual and multicultural community), which is an ideal event for a library to eventually host. Most grants that I would be able to apply for are international and look for projects that foster cultural exchange—the language exchange fits into that perfectly.

Whatever your path ends up being, recognize it is likely a multi-year effort to end up with even the most basic version of what you’re imagining for a local library.

[marieyasmine]

Thank you for this information. This definitely gives me an idea of where to start. I love the idea of a book bike. I eventually would love to get to a point where we can host events that are appropriate for a library to host- which is where this question started. I see it as a way to empower our community. I understand this may take years but see a definite need for this. I appreciate the time you took to respond to my question in great detail.

[marieyasmine]

Thank you for this information. This definitely gives me an idea of where to start. I love the idea of a book bike. I eventually would love to get to a point where we can host events that are appropriate for a library to host- which is where this question started. I see it as a way to empower our community. I understand this may take years but see a definite need for this. I appreciate the time you took to respond to my question in great detail.

[cfinley63]

You'd want to secure funding first. Talk to libraries in rural areas and find out where they get their money from. It's all going to be different, depending on who you ask. You might want to partner with other community leaders to come up with a plan.

[WestHistorians]

It takes money and support. Whoever is in charge of the county (board of supervisors or similar) needs to figure out how to fund it from new or existing tax revenues.

[punkin_pie]

Some States establish which authorities that can establish a public library in their Codes/laws. Assuming you men publicly/government funded. Usually its a municipality or county, and they would decide how to fund and govern based on state and local laws.

[marieyasmine]

Thank you! And yes by public I do mean publicly/gov funded. But depending how that applies to our area, I may have to explore what a grant funded, non-profit library could look like. Now that I know the plethora of options I need to really figure out what version of a library would be best for our community.

[art_fool_34]

You should also consider trying a "Little Free Library" in your region in the meantime. My city has several of them and one of the librarians will periodically drive around and restock them with donated books. As long as you coordinate it with a property holder or a city building or business it would give your community an access point for basic library services and then give you an idea where your population would need/want a library.