Small Steps, Big Thinking: How a Community Reimagined Its Rural Library in the Other California

Find out how one community responded to their local library closure, sparking positive action and change that was answered by government officials and local library advocates. Through creative partnership with a community college district and city leadership, the Shafter Library and Learning Center reopened to the public almost two years after closing, with new books and services offered fine free, interactive art, and leadership that is responsive to the diverse needs of the communities they serve.

Navigating the unique challenges of library work in the California Central Valley takes patience, partners, and a whole lot of ingenuity and quick thinking. The Shafter Library offers not a one-size-fits-all solution to those challenges, but suggests some innovative strategies for how we can unite and overcome them to provide top-tier library services to all.