As urban libraries expand their programs and services across the state, rural libraries face budget cuts, staffing shortages, and the challenge of meeting community needs with limited resources.
Libraries are at a crucial turning point – no longer a place that simply houses books, but rather a lifeline for communities who turn to them for resources, refuge, and connection. They are places where anyone can go and everyone belongs. Libraries are the heartbeat of communities, big and small, nationwide. Still, as funding gaps widen, urban and rural libraries in Iowa face drastically different futures – one of expansion and innovation, the other of survival.
“The Kossuth County Board of Supervisors had basically cut all of our funding,” said Sandy Long, Director of the Whittemore Public Library, located in rural, northwest Iowa. “They were just going to give us a $5,000 technology grant, which riled up all of us.”
Kossuth County, with a population of just under 14,400 people, sits below the Minnesota-Iowa border and is home to twelve rural libraries. In April, as the Board of Supervisors finalized their budget for the upcoming fiscal year, word leaked that the libraries were losing nearly $200,000 through a 75% cut from the county.
With the extreme budget cuts, Kossuth County’s libraries would be in the red – unable to buy new books, pay for WiFi and computer access, or provide resources, like free printing or resume reviewing, to community members. Many facilities would be forced to cut hours, which have already been reduced to part-time, meaning they are only open three or four days a week. A few Kossuth County libraries, such as Swea City Public Library, Lakota Public Library, and Wesley Public Library, have been forced to reduce to less than 20 hours per week.
At Whittemore Public Library, Long said if the budget cuts would have been passed, they would have been forced to cut hours and staffing, which is a better outcome than some of the more rural libraries that would have had to dial back to being open just one day per week or closing down entirely.
“In our smaller towns, all that’s left is the library. In Fenton, a small town to the north of us, there is not even a gas station or a convenience store or a restaurant open during the day, so the library is where people go to socialize,” Long said.
The cuts were proposed in April 2024 and went into effect in July, but librarians and loyal library patrons weren’t going to accept these changes without a fight.
“Some of those meetings with the supervisors were jam-packed with people from all over the county, and I think that’s when the board knew they were in deep trouble,” Long said.
Long has been with Whittemore Public Library since the 1980s, and after decades of helping it grow and thrive, she wasn’t going to let budget cuts be the reason the community hot spot was forced to close its doors.
“Since the budget cuts were proposed, some of us librarians have been going to every Tuesday morning meeting – if for nothing else, just to sit there and make it known that we’re here and we’re listening,” Long said.
Every Tuesday morning, the board of supervisors meets to review budgets and handle other county business. For the librarians, showing up made all the difference. In September, the board voted unanimously to pass a budget amendment, restoring library funding to its previous amount. Long described the day as a sigh of relief.
“I think we’ve made them realize that we’re not going to go down. We’re going to fight,” Long said.
Part of that fight is proving that libraries are a needed and wanted resource in communities both big and small across the state. For example, Gibson Memorial Library in Creston is the only library in Union County, which is home to over 12,000 Iowans.
According to Danielle Dickenson Thaden, library director at Gibson Memorial, the majority of Gibson’s funding comes from the city of Creston, in addition to Gibson County, the State Library of Iowa, and local donors. In the last year, Gibson Memorial has not faced the same financial challenges that many other libraries, such as Whittemore, have. Instead, their focus has been on making the library about more than just the books.
“We are increasing our door count and our programming,” said Thaden. “We’re becoming more of a community hub, and this programming and the community atmosphere is what is drawing people back.”
During the last fiscal year, October 2023 through September 2024, Gibson Memorial reports that their door count – the number of people coming into the library – is up by over 2,000 visits. Additionally, library visits have increased by 13%, and program attendance has increased by 23%.
Thaden credits the increase in programming to the library’s recent success. From storytime sessions for all ages to author visits and health seminars targeted towards adult patrons to unique offerings such as a pickle-tasting class, Gibson Memorial aims to attract every member of the Union County community. Their mission to provide quality, community-focused programming has grown so much in the past few years that the staff at Gibson Memorial decided to create a full-time ‘programming specialist’ position in 2021 and invest more of their budget into these programs.
“We’re trying to do our best to notice what the community is lacking and then figuring out where and how we can fill those gaps,” Thaden said.
According to a 2018-2022 Census, 83.9% of households in Union County had a broadband internet subscription, meaning that nearly 2,000 residents don’t have access to the internet from their homes. Last month, to help remedy this situation, Gibson Memorial acquired 25 internet hot spots through U.S. Cellular and now has the opportunity to loan the devices out to patrons. This service attracts students to the library, as they can borrow the hot spots to complete their homework outside the classroom.
“I think we, and a lot of other libraries, have leaned into the fact that we’re not just a place that warehouses a whole bunch of books. We are here to serve our communities,” Thaden said.
Going beyond the books has been a recent trend at both rural and urban libraries, as these facilities are quickly realizing their potential to transform into community hubs. Des Moines Public Library, the highest state-funded library in Iowa, added “The Library of Things” to its services list in 2022. The Library of Things is a free program that allows library cardholders to check out items like power tools, board games, kitchen appliances, and lawn games.
Deana Cunningham, a former public services assistant at Waukee Public Library, said she wasn’t surprised when she heard about the Kossuth County funding cuts.
“Libraries aren’t just books anymore, and the people making the budgeting decisions really see it as just books,” Cunningham said.
“Most probably haven’t stepped foot in the library in 10 years.”
In some areas across the state, some libraries are thriving – bringing in more patrons than ever before. According to an article by Business Record, Waukee is one of the fastest growing suburbs in the United States, and, as a result, Waukee Public Library has seen a substantial growth in patrons in the last decade. With an increase in residents, more funding was allocated and Waukee Public was given over $122,000 in library levy funding this past fiscal year.
With plenty of funding coming in from the state and plentiful donations from patrons, Waukee Public Library has invested in programming and community outreach services to draw more residents into the library.
“The library is a safe, equitable space where everyone is welcome and there are no barriers for accessibility,” Cunningham said.
Waukee Public Library offers a variety of services to patrons, such as veteran resources, voting information, job application assistance, sensory spaces, computer and internet access, and weekly events for children and adults. These services not only increase the number of people coming through the door but it also gives community members a place to turn to, no matter what their situation may be.
“You don’t know what your neighbor needs. You don’t know what access to information they have. You don’t know if your life will change and you’ll suddenly need somewhere to turn to,” Cunningham said. “Keeping this funding allows libraries to fill these gaps of need.”
As Iowa’s libraries navigate a shifting landscape, filling these gaps is more important than ever before. The good that can come from a library has grown to more than just educational benefits – it’s utilizing resources, fostering connections, and creating a space where anyone can belong. As the inevitable funding gaps continue to widen between rural and urban libraries, the options are bleak: discover new ways to grow and thrive, or close your doors.
“I think we’ll all be able to survive because there is such a need and a want for libraries in our community,” Long said. “I can’t imagine a little town without a library.”