The Community Library
The Community Library
[edit]The Community Library is a public library in Ketchum, Idaho. The library is privately funded and open to the public. The Gold Mine Thrift Store[1] has been a source of funding for the library since it's inception. The Library also operates the Wood River Museum of History and Culture[2], Gold Mine Consign, and the Ernest and Mary Hemingway House and Preserve.[3]
The Community Library Association[4] was founded in 1955 by seventeen women as a non-profit organization to create a privately-funded and governed library.[5] Founders include Clara Spiegel[5], Anita Gray[6] and Jeanne Rodger Lane[7]. The women first opened the Gold Mine Thrift Store in a log cabin to earn funds to build a library to serve Ketchum, Sun Valley, and Triumph.[8]
The first library (now the actual Gold Mine Thrift Store) was built in 1957. In 1977 the library built a new structure designed by Dates Fryberger, Architect to house their increasing collection, and enlarged this design again in 1986 and 1997. An award winning remodel by Humphries Poli Architects and Nichole Snyder Interiors[9][10] was completed in 2019.
In 2024 The Community Library received the "Library of the Year" award from the Idaho Library Association for it's advocacy work for libraries during the previous State Legislative session.[11]
Mission Statement
[edit]The Community Library brings information, ideas, and individuals together to enhance the cultural life of the community.
Collections and services
[edit]As of 2024, The Community Library contained 106,000 physical items from printed books to charging cables, and 46,000 digital items. Special collections include regional history archives with oral histories and early Sun Valley photographs from the Union Pacific Railroad, clothing from Mary Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway's personal book collection from the Hemingway House, the Clara Spiegel Collection, and Arion Press books.
The library hosts high speed fiber WIFI, accessible from inside and outside of the building. There are 12 computers for patron use with Microsoft or Apple software, along with free printing. Technical help is available for individuals with their own devices. Meeting rooms are open to the public for private booking, the sizes range from 4-25 people. The Reference Librarian handles test proctoring and research requests. The Children's department has a room with gaming computers for kids, and a teen-only lounge.
Programs & Events
[edit]- Bookmobile
- Community Library Programs
- Ernest Hemingway Seminar[12]
- Hemingway Distinguished Lecture Series
- Sun Valley Early Literacy Summit[13]
- Writer-in-Residence Program[14]
References
[edit]- ^ "Gold Mine Thrift". www.wikidata.org. Retrieved 2024-10-23.
- ^ "Wood River Museum of History and Culture". www.wikidata.org. Retrieved 2024-10-23.
- ^ "Ernest and Mary Hemingway House". www.wikidata.org. Retrieved 2024-10-23.
- ^ "ISNI 0000000405936211 Community Library". isni.oclc.org. Retrieved 2024-05-25.
- ^ a b Spiegel, Clara. "Clara Spiegel Papers, 1924-1997 ; "The Library That Faith Built"". Archives West (Box 30, Folder 13). Boise State University Library, Special Collections and Archives. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
- ^ "New home, new mission for Hemingway's house in Central Idaho". Idaho Statesman. May 23, 2017. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Jeanne Lane Moritz dies". Idaho Mountain Express. November 29, 2000. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Triumph Mine". www.wikidata.org. Retrieved 2024-10-23.
- ^ "Nicole Snyder Interiors Awards". Nicole Snyder Interiors. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "ALA and IIDA Announce Recipients of the 2020 Library Interior Design Awards". American Library Association. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Community Library named Idaho Library of the Year". The Idaho Mountain Express. October 16, 2024. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "The annual Ernest Hemingway Seminar coming to Ketchum Sept. 7 - 9". Idaho Press. September 3, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "The Community Library hosted the Sun Valley Early Literacy Summit". KMTV News. June 16, 2024. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Hemingway's history draws celebrated writers to Idaho to explore their craft, his world". Idaho Statesman. March 2, 2021. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)