Libraries

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1

I’ve been thinking about this off and on for the past couple of years. Our Town is very small and cannot afford membership in the local, county library system. So I thought, why not create our own library?

I’ve spent ten years and more, working in libraries–I know the Dewey sorting/classification system and how a lending library basically works. I’d start small with a children’s library, just to see if there’s interest. I’d slowly expand into kid lit, teen lit, and adult lit. My problem is space. Volunteer space would be needed. The other problem is, I’m not a librarian–even though I know a lot about how libraries work–and I don’t know if an MLS would be needed to start and run a library.

It would be a lot of work and a lot of time, but it’s something that I think would benefit the Town.

Anyone think it’s feasible?

2

That would be awesome. I think you can do it. You’d probably get a lot of help too.

3

Great idea, except the part about ‘kid lit, teen lit, and adult lit’. People don’t need more ‘lit’ to distract them, they need learning materials that will help them build their own communities.

It would be like running a community convenience store that only sells mass-manufactured junk food.

4

If I was there I would help

5

I have to start a business plan, which means I’ll probably be very busy for a while.

The first thing is to find a place. I thought of our old Town Hall. It’s the finished attic of a cottage that used to belong to people we knew who are no longer alive. So–

1.)–See who owns it now and see if they’d be willing to donate the space. If that falls through, we’d have to ask for a room in a private home. If that falls through, we’re kind of dead in the water–unless the Town would lend us the basement of the new Town Hall. I can’t ask about any of this until after the week-end.

If we can find space, we’d have to furnish that space with shelves while asking for book donations. E books (kids picture books) should start it because that’s what a lot of the young people here want–and because, assuming we’ll get space, space is going to be very limited.

  1. I know the director of the County Library system here, somewhat. I’d certainly ask for his advice, help, and support. I also know the director of a small system in Oregon, who would be another source.

  2. I know several librarians–both active and retired–I can approach–again, for practical help and advice.

  3. Membership would, of course, have to be free, so we’d have to apply for non-profit status. From then on, any revenue would come from late and lost book fees and that revenue could only be used to benefit the library. But as a not for profit, we’d probably be eligible for Federal grants.

  4. Anyone who volunteers to staff the library would have to have their own lap-top with the program needed for check-out and check-in. This would mean shared access–or maybe not. I have to learn more about that.

This is as far as I’ve gotten so far.

Any more ideas?

The first thing is finding space.

6

Just do what we did in west virginia- most counties didn’t have a library, so a guy went around building the cheapest design for a library in each county… basically a gazeebo with walls… with a few windows… open with volunteers, fundraising for electric bills/gas bills. Get a bathroom set up by hitting up the local training facility for plumbing, as saying it’s a non profit for a library, and your willing to hire a few of the students out if they will set that up if you can’t do it or find someone to do it. Same for electricians and HVAC? No, its not the same, their gonna cost you some money. A old water furnace scrubbed out is good as new, and old duct will do- this design… the gazeebo is rather simple… so long as the winter isn’t harsh there, you might be allowed just a ceiling fan and no HVAC craziness. Carpet the floors? Something not easy to stain- ask me later, and I can hook you up with the correct directories for those more exacting trades, nationally certified so as to give you the correct carpet that’s least sustainable and easiest to clean.

You can talk to a few surrounding library directors, they more than likely have a bunch of old books in storage. You need stuff on SAT/GRE, foreign language books, predominately Spanish and Chinese so workers can learn to speak English, as well as to attract literacy groups. Obviously two local newspapers need to be subscribed to, as well as NY Times and Wall Street Journal.

Computers don’t have to be too advanced… old Pentium 2-3 computers good enough, as well as two cheap flatscreen monitors.

Aim for school hours. Your copy machine on the side of the main desk… it should be, after the restroom and glass for your windows, your 3rd most expensive purchase.

Your hours reflect not just the availability of the volunteers, but how much maintenance and costs are. No money means no light… no light means u fucked. You might get by with reduced costs with a sky light, but those cost money, and they snow over easy and leak if you skimped on building costs.

Talk to police chief about possible grants via a national crime prevention organization.

A gazeebo design is very easy to expand on… you just build another 6/8 sided building along side of it, and knock down a wall once ready… and you use the old bathroom and everything in the old one. Like I said, this design is tested in West Virginia, and it works. Call up the Glimmer County Public Library in Glimmer Country, West Virginia for more details- they are the most notible of the simple design I know of, and the librarian on duty obviously will know more than me about the little quirks of such a design, as well as get you in touch with the architect volunteer for details- you might just be able to convince them to send you the plans for it to be built there as well. Like I said- it’s as cheap as you can get.

I want you to name it after Walker. The Walker Memorial Library.

7

Thanks, everyone–keep those cards and letter coming, please.

CN, I’d forgotten about toilets. The old Town hall didn’t have one, as I recall.

I think it’s doable and the idea excites me. I’ll find out more this week.

In the meantime, it’s Memorial Day. That’s the day we go and clean my Mom’s grave, edge around the grave stone, and give her fresh flowers. She’s as much a veteran as my Father.

8

:laughing:

9

As someone with experience setting up charitable projects, I would make investigating this priority number 1.

I think you have to go this way round:

First, investigate possible funding routes. Your plan is a great one, but it needs substantial investment. You might be able to get some funds from local donors, but really you’re going to need a big cash injection from somewhere to get off the ground. If your lucky, there’s a local millionaire’s widow looking for someone to betroth her hordes to. If not, you’ll have to do it the hard way. But you do need to find out whether its really feasible.

Second, you need to put a ‘package’ together to sell to potential donors. That means doing all the things you listed, as well as developing a realistic sustainability plan which shows in detail how much money you will need to set the library up and for long term upkeep, and how you plan to achieve this funding. Donors will not be interested in donating to a project which they do not see as sustainable and want concrete numbers to convince them. Get help from business advisers if you’re not good with numbers / presentations etc and tap your contacts at other libraries to help you work out the numbers.

You also need to focus on how it will be helpful and prove that there is a demand / need for it. Polls, petitions, interviews, quotes from authoritative figures like mayors and school heads all really help with this. You need to prepare to really sell your plan. This is key to any proposal.

So basically, step two is to make a detailed paper plan of exactly what the library will look like, where it will be, what will be in it, who will use it, why it will benefit people, who will staff it and how it will be funded, and who will be responsible for it. If you don’t know these things, potential funding groups will barely give you the light of day (I’ve been there, so I know).

Third, you need to take this plan to the people who you think could fund the library (e.g. federal grants agencies, lottery funds, rotary clubs etc) and use it to convince them to back you and your plan. Trust me, in the non profit sector, money is still everything. Especially these days, the charity funding sector is incredibly competitive. Presenting to funding groups or potential donors can be really intimidating. They can ask you all sorts of questions, argue about any statistics or figures you give them, ask you ‘what your basis for thinking x will cost y is’, asking you whether your idea is just ‘something you want to do to make yourself feel good’ or whether its really for the benefit of others. You have to know the answer to these things, or they smile at you sweetly and advise you to ‘go and do a bit of voluntary work instead’.

Get funding in place and everything else will come up rosy, I promise!

I wish you luck with your project! :smiley:

10

Thank you all, again.

I need to find a need, first. I can do that with the Town’s e-mail addresses that go to most residents. Once I have that–but simultaneously–I need to find a place. I need to show potential ‘customers’ that I’ve already laid a possible ground-work. That’s why it has to start with E books–picture books for non-readers. E-books also don’t need to be cataloged except as a list of what’s available. They can be loosely shelved alphabetically by author.

It would be a kind of organized book-exchange. If that’s successful, we could expand into early readers of the Dick and Jane variety–then into early chapter books. A children’s library is structured around the child’s developmental and reading skills levels, but it also has to keep the parent or guardian in mind–especially when it comes to non-fiction. A book about plant development, for example, needs to be colorful and easy to understand when the child is read to.

But first things first–establish the need–find a place.

I’ll get the e-mail list from the Town clerk tomorrow. I’ll also find out who now owns the original Town hall. Can’t do anything more than that for now.