Sharing a love for reading one library at a time
Build Your Own Lending Library
and grow literacy in your own community
Develop Your Plan
Building your own lending library is no small undertaking! Be sure you are prepared and understand the depth of work required to commit to such a project.
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To do this, and set a strong foundation for your project, it is necessary to create a project plan. Consider what materials you will need, who you will need to speak with, and how you will maintain the lending library.
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Once you've hammered out these details and written everything down, its time to move on to getting the work done!
Reach Out to Your Community
Knowing who to speak to and what to ask for is a third of the battle for your lending library. It is important to seek out whoever you will be partnering with on your project. These include:
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Who's permission do you need to place the lending library? This requires talking with whoever owns the facilities on which your library will find a home. You need their permission to build.
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Who are you acquiring books from? Books for your library must come from somewhere, and either by donation or purchase. You must either choose to inquire about donations, or raise funding to purchase books to support local retailers. You can even ask the community to donate from their own collections. For my lending library, I purchase books from my local independent bookstore as well as the county library's bookstore.
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Who is supplying the construction materials? Your local home supply store will likely help out with donations if you speak with the manager or owner.
How will you advertise your lending library? Find businesses and other public locations in your area that target your library audience. You may want to speak with them about putting up flyers or handing out other literature to spread the word about your library.
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Be sure to thank and credit all who donate or assist your project.
Build Your Library
This is the nitty-gritty aspect of the project. Constructing a lending library is much more time-consuming and rigorous than one would imagine. There are several important factors to consider when designing your lending library:
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What will the dimensions be?
How will it be supported and anchored to the ground?
What kind of paint should be used?
How will it be weather treated and sealed?
What hinges and other hardwear would be best?
What power tools or hand tools will be required for the job?
What materials should be used?
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While each of these questions must be independently answered based on the details of your project (such as where you are placing the library, what kinds of books it will hold, and what your budget is) I can tell you what we used to construct ours.
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The dimennsions of our library are 2' x 2' x 1'
It rests on a 6' post, set 2' into the ground with 4' above
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Our materials list consisted of:
Two 4' x 8' x 15/32" plywood boards (RTD sheathing)
One 4" x 4" x 8' post (#2 ground contact pressure treated southern yellow pine)
Three 60 lb bags of quickcrete
Four double roller catches with spear (liberty brand)
Five Everbuilt 3 1/2" hinge
Two 12" x 24" clear polycarbonate sheets (plexiglass - LEXIAN brand)
Two handles for door (preferred design)
2 Quarts Behr Ultimate exterior paint - Bellow Zero & Mountain Morn
1 Pint Behr Marquee exterior paint - white
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Get People Involved
Ultimately, you want your lending library to be used. But to do that, you must let people know that it is out there waiting for readers!
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Determine where people who would be interested in reading the books in your library congregate. For example, my libraries contain children's books. I sought out places such as libraries, local bookstores, schools, children's stores, and family-friendly areas to promote the existence of my lending library. I had a preference for using physical literature in these areas, such as flyers and specially designed bookmarks, to introduce my library.
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Social media is also a powerful tool in getting the word out. Set up a Facebook or Instagram for your library, depending on what the audience would be more likely to use. This provides a great platform to connect with users of your library. I also obviously advocate having a website if your plan is to develop into more than the single library.
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Along with telling the community your library is open for business, you may want to receive some feedback as well! Using social media is a good way to go about this, as well as establishing an email that you could have posted on literature or at the lending library. Another great way is to provide a guest book at the lending library for users to record their names, the date, and what they read on their visit.
Maintain and Love
If you are committing to placing a lending library, you must know that the job is not over once the books are being read. Unless otherwise arranged, you are responsible for the library's upkeep, including managing stock or making repairs. The name of the game here is preparation.
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Prepare to restock books. This will be the biggest upkeep for the library. It is inevitable that people will take books and never return them. Though this can be upsetting, take heart that hopefully those individuals truly needed that book. This does present a problem that eventually the books in your library will need restocking. Either from disappearance or wear and tear, new books will be needed. I recommend having a stock of books waiting and checking for replacement regularly.
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Prepare to make repairs. This is especially true if your lending library is placed outside. The elements wear on even the sturdiest buildings, so it is wise to have extra building materials on hand to maintain the library. This can mean everything from regular repainting to replacing the roof. But even inside a lending library can take damage. Regular use has its downside as well.
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Prepare to accept disinterest. As much as I hope no one encounters this, sometimes a community is just not ready for a lending library. This could be for a variety of reasons and often the lending library is salvageable by changing placement locations. But in some instances it may be better to remove the library altogether and that is something you must be ready for.
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The most important thing to remember is to LOVE YOUR LENDING LIBRARY! You worked so hard to bring this beacon of books and reading to your community that you deserve to enjoy it. Visit often just for pleasure. Take friends and family for a reading date. Plan a ribbon cutting. Add books from your own library. Love it, because it loves you, and you love promoting literacy in your community.