How to build a library Part 1: You need a space

It may sound obvious, but securing a space is the first and most important step. This is probably true in most, if not all, endeavors, but is especially true if you plan to build a library because books require space. Lots of it. Fortunately, we found a space that should give us an okay start. It’s not super big, but it’s something. The space is roughly 36 square meters.

At this point some questions naturally arise. How many books will fit in 36 square meters? How many book shelves could we have? How tall could the book shelves be? Is 36 square meters lots of space? Etc. etc. I don’t know. I wish I could answer those questions. At some future point, I should be able to, but at least for now, what I want to stress here is that we have a space. Those other details should be resolved in future blog updates.

You may still have one burning question on your mind. How did we get our space? You either have to have loads of money (which we do not), or be fortunate enough to have someone be able to provide a space for you. We are fortunately the latter. We have someone who was willing to let us use the space and who believes in our idea to support the community.

So, our library will have it’s home here in what is now a clothing shop. We will completely gut the place and start from scratch. Construction should commence sometime in April or May if we can make a plan come together with a construction company. For now, we are collecting all the books we can for when we open, which can’t come soon enough! The previous tenant closes shop on March 31. They have been running a clothing store here for 30 plus years! Quite an amazing feat. Respect.