The Mendocino County Library Round Valley Branch is LJ’s 2024 Best Small Library in America

At Library Journal we have been inspired over the past few years to see a growing number of libraries step up to address some of the nation’s most pressing issues: ensuring their services are inclusive and provide connectivity for as many people as possible, offering sustainable practices that everyone can take part in, and contributing to their community’s safety and resiliency. Every so often, however, we come across a library that has been doing this work from the start, out of necessity as well as ideals.

THE HUB OF COVELO  In a Northern California town that is both abundant in natural beauty and extremely isolated (top photos); the Round Valley Branch, built on the site of a former restaurant, is a community connector (bottom photo). Photos by Ree Slocum

The Round Valley Branch Library of the Mendocino County Library System is the lone facility serving the unincorporated community of Covelo, CA—a remote spot even by northern California standards. Located nearly 200 miles northwest of Sacramento and about three hours from the affluent tourism destination of California’s wine country, Covelo sits between the Pacific coast and Mendocino National Forest; the westernmost section of the single state highway providing access becomes a gravel road just outside of town limits and is closed during the winter because of heavy mountain snowfall. More than 400 acres of the unincorporated town of Covelo are part of the 23,000 acres of the Round Valley Indian Reservation, whose history was born out of the California Trail of Tears. According to 2022 Economic Census data, just over 29 percent of Covelo’s nearly 3,000 residents live below the poverty line—nearly double the rate for the rest of the county—and for many years experienced poor broadband connectivity. As in many parts of the state, Mendocino County has suffered devastating wildfires, including two of California’s largest in the past six years.

A PLACE TO GATHER The Walnut Grove Cafe offers visitors refreshments and a spot to spend time together. Photos by Ree Slocum

Because Covelo is isolated and lacks the infrastructure and resources of more populous areas; because many residents’ livelihoods depend on agriculture and ranching, industries hit hard by the recession; because it is vulnerable to wildfires; and because it is home to a population divided mainly among white, Indigenous, and Latine residents, the library has always needed to prioritize sustainability, resiliency, and inclusivity. For the work it has done to create a robust community hub through responsive services and strong partnerships, the Mendocino County Library Round Valley Branch is the recipient of LJ’s 2024 Best Small Library in America Award, sponsored by Ingram Library Services.

A COMMUNITY REVITALIZED

The Round Valley Branch was founded in 1978 as the Covelo Public Library, run by a handful of volunteers in a former laundromat. In 1989 it was incorporated into the Mendocino County Library System, joining branches in Fort Bragg, Willits, and Ukiah, the county seat; facilities in Point Arena and Laytonville joined later. At the same time, the Friends of the Round Valley Public Library (the Friends) group formed.

THE ONES WHO MAKE IT HAPPEN Round Valley Branch library staff (l.-r.): Shakti, Library Assistant; Josh Bennett, Branch Librarian; Kaitlin Harness, Library Assistant; Dee Mullen, Library Assistant; and Pat Sobrero, Library Technician. Photo by Ree Slocum

The downfall of the timber industry in the 1990s hit Round Valley’s economy powerfully, leaving it vulnerable. When a wealthy developer bought up a large block of downtown and razed it with the intent to build, some saw hope for a renewed economy; but he abandoned his plans when the recession hit in 2008, leaving a quarter of Covelo’s commercial buildings gone.

The Friends realized that the community badly needed revitalizing, and had an idea to help: a Commons, with the library as its hub, that could provide necessary services to residents of the town, reservation, and county. With the help of several endowments from local ranchers, the Friends were able to buy a large former restaurant. The county supported the plan, and some generous outside donors—as well as a steady stream of smaller local contributions—helped fund the $1 million, 7,500 square foot project. The library moved into its new space in 2010.

MULTIPURPOSE MEETING ROOM  Top: Jojo Kerschner from Conservation Ambassadors’ Wild Things shares stories of the animals in his care, including a friendly capybara. Bottom: the comfortable Commons meeting room welcomes all, and hosts monthly meetings of the Friends of the Round Valley Public Library board. Photos by Ree Slocum

“It’s beautiful to walk into,” says County Librarian Mellisa Hannum. “There’s lots of light, it has gorgeous woodwork, and the community room has all these overstuffed cushy leather chairs. It’s a really nice environment.”

The complex houses a certified commercial kitchen, redwood-paneled meeting and community room, café, and radio station, among other amenities, but the anchor of them all is the Round Valley Branch. With five employees including Branch Librarian Josh Bennett, as well as a roster of volunteers, the library provides a range of programming for adults and children, a robust collection—print books, hoopla and Libby e- and audiobook lending, and Kanopy streaming video, among other offerings—and widespread outreach.

“We’ve been really working hard to reach as many families as possible in this small community,” says Bennett. A former teacher, he works closely with the local school system, in addition to a host of other day-to-day services—“I’m ready to receive kids when they walk through the door. I’m lending books, I’m talking with partners and arranging outreach, and I’m making Facebook posts.”

NOURISHING BODY AND SOUL The Farmers Market brings the community together every Friday. Photos by Ree Slocum

SEEDS OF SUSTAINABILITY

The community has always been self-reliant, both by necessity, because of its isolation, and thanks to a great deal of agricultural fortune: good soil, a deep aquifer throughout the valley, and clean air when there isn’t a fire.

“The challenge is, how do you transition from that insular, homesteader idea of ‘I can take care of my own place,’ to recognize that we’re all in this together?” asks Lew Chichester, a Round Valley resident and contractor who came on to help manage the library design and construction process and currently serves as vice president of the Friends board. “This is sustainability, this is resiliency, to create these relationships with one another, and relationships with the structures of the world that you live in.”

Round Valley’s Seed Library embodies those ideals of interdependence and regard for the land. All of the system’s branches now have seed libraries, each different according to their local microclimates—which vary widely across Mendocino County’s nearly 4,000 square miles—but Round Valley’s was the first, started by Library Technician Pat Sobrero in 2013. “The county really believes in supporting sustainable agriculture and growing things that are adapted to the region,” says Hannum. “Covelo is inland and gets really hot in the summer and colder in the winter.”

MEETING COMMUNITY NEEDS Staff and volunteers sort and label hundreds of packets for the Seed Library to give out and trade (top) and distribute at the Farmers Market (bottom). Top photo courtesy of the Round Valley Branch Library; bottom photo by Ree Slocum

An old wooden card catalog holds a large collection of seeds that community members can access for free, and a couple of seed and fruit tree scion swaps each year draw participants from all over the county. During the growing season, the Seed Library provides the local food bank with seed packets to distribute to community members who may be experiencing food insecurity. Local experts often speak at the library about seed saving and cultivation, with an eye toward healthy eating and sustainable growing practices.

HIGH VISIBILITY Sobrero (r.) holds a reflective address sign, which will help first responders find residents during an emergency—the library distributes them as part of a partnership with the Round Valley Municipal Advisory Council’s Fire and Disaster Preparedness Working Group. Photo courtesy of the Round Valley Branch Library

“Interest in gardening and food production has only grown since the COVID pandemic,” says Sobrero. “We focus on encouraging people to garden and save seeds and on developing locally adapted crop varieties that will grow and thrive in our extreme climate.” The library has distributed more than 4,600 seed packets over the past 12 months.

The Commons property also includes two lots, one of which—a grassy area shaded by walnut trees—is home to a Farmers Market on Fridays. The market is a gathering spot for the community as well as a place to shop. Residents sell organic produce, baked goods, and preserves that have often been processed in the Commons’ commercial kitchen. Monthly seed planting parties during the growing season, using seeds from the Seed Library, let people plant flowers and vegetables “to go.”

Sobrero also runs a sustainability film series with subjects ranging from beekeeping to restorative agriculture, bikes to forest management. Along with the Seed Library, says Bennett, the series “easily fits into that story of simple things that we can all do to lighten our footprint on Earth.”

KEEPING CONNECTED

Bennett credits Mendocino County Library Administrative Services Manager Barb Chapman with one of the library’s most important developments—its Wi-Fi connection. “When I started in 2016, the branch was connected with fixed wireless. What that means is there’s a microwave signal beamed out from a mountaintop,” he says. “It was unreliable and it was slow.” On Fridays, the library’s busiest days, “the Wi-Fi would just kind of whimper.” For residents dependent on the library to print a document, access telehealth or social services, register at the county DMV, or do homework, this was more than just an inconvenience.

In 2019, Chapman began work to connect the Mendocino Library system to the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC), a nonprofit consortium, and helped secure $100,000 in grant funding from the California State Library. CENIC installed the first fiber optic high-speed broadband lines in the county; the schools were wired up with high-speed internet at the same time. The network upgrade to the Round Valley Branch was completed in 2022, to the delight of patrons and staff alike. “It’s a huge success and a win for this community,” says Bennett. “Folks get connected via Wi-Fi, they have reliable public computers, and those of us who are conducting library business have an uninterrupted workflow and ability to serve patrons.”

TRIBAL PARTNERSHIPS

The federally recognized nation of Round Valley Indian Tribes is one of the state’s largest and—as with many Indigenous U.S. territories—has a complex, difficult history. It originated as a confederation of smaller tribes forcibly relocated from their own lands by white settlers, in the mid–19th century, to the homeland of the Yuki tribe. Some were enemies, and nearly all spoke other languages, held other beliefs, and used the land and its products differently. In 1936, descendants of the Yuki, Wailacki, Concow, Little Lake Pomo, Nomlacki, and Pit River peoples formed a new tribe on the reservation, adopting a constitution and creating the Covelo Indian Community, later called the Round Valley Indian Tribes.

The library has a longstanding relationship with tribal government, and hosts tribal programs and community events year-round, as well as collaborating with the Round Valley Indian Health Center (RVIHC) community outreach department on nutrition classes, early literacy, and the Native Way Walking Amongst Youth and Yuki Trails Youth Activity

days. Recently, the library partnered with RVIHC physical therapist Emily Bruton on a Senior Power program, which challenges seniors of all fitness levels to improve their strength and balance. 

The RVIHC, which has provided health care to the community for more than 50 years, holds its annual Health Fair every September, and the Round Valley Library consistently participates in the community event. The day features a walk/run in the morning followed by an opening prayer, music, free BBQ lunch, bingo for elders, traditional dancers, and booths from a variety of organizations. This year, the fair’s 44th, the library will have a table with new books and plenty of arts and crafts for children, says Bennett.

A PLACE TO GATHER

The handsome community room has its own entrance, so gatherings can be held after library hours. Monthly meetings of the Round Valley Area Municipal Advisory Council (RVAMAC) are held there, and the county sheriff, Department of Transportation, and animal control officers Zoom in on the room’s big screen to meet with constituents. In an area where neighboring towns are more than an hour’s drive away, this central access is critical to keeping community members informed and in touch.

County Supervisor John Haschak regularly used the meeting room when he was campaigning for the position. “The library would be the first place I’d go to,” he says. “It’s the center of the community. During my campaign, they would hold forums there and debates.”

CELEBRATING THE TRIBES Permanent display showcasing the heritage and art of the Round Valley Indian Tribes; former Round Valley Librarian Georgina Wright-Pete (l.), for many years the “heart and soul” of the library. Photos by Ree Slocum

Six years later, he’s a regular visitor—particularly on Fridays, when he spends time at the Farmer’s Market and talks with residents about what’s on their minds. “Pretty much everything revolves around that library in the town—the café, radio station, meetings, forums, parties, movie nights, you could just go on and on,” he says.

Bringing community together doesn’t only happen on library grounds, though. Round Valley makes good use of the Mendocino County Library outreach van, which Bennett says “is almost thought of as one of the branches.” It comes equipped with an awning, beanbag chairs, and astroturf to sit on during story times, not to mention a smoothie bike—a stationary bicycle with a blender attached that children and adults can pedal to power up, get some exercise, and make a healthy snack. People can check out books from the “honor lending library” without needing a library card. (Most of the books are returned, notes Bennett.)

And if the van is busy in some other part of the county, Bennett will go out himself with a table, a crate of new children’s books, and a pile of library card applications. “Every month of the year, we’re doing some sort of outreach,” he says. “If we’re invited somewhere, we show up.”

ON THE AIR

The Friends’ community radio station, KYBU 96.9 FM, serves to connect people in good times and in bad. The volunteer-run station, housed in a building adjacent to the library, broadcasts a mix of music, news, interviews, and information relevant to the Round Valley community 24 hours a day, and streams online via the station’s website. The station is underwritten by local businesses and officials—in 2023 these included the In 2023 these included the Round Valley Unified School District, M&M Feed and Supply, the Mendocino County Sheriff, the Hot Shots firefighting crew, Tri Counties Bank, and Keith’s IGA Grocery.

ON THE AIR The Friends-run radio station, KYBU, provides 24-hour broadcasting that includes community and library news, local music, and vital updates during fire emergencies. Photos by Ree Slocum

Among its many other programs, every afternoon the radio plays an hour of music recorded from a local music festival with a 40-year catalog—“which is fun,” says Chichester, “because you get to hear your grandpa, or this person who has moved away, or this person who passed away.” Library staff use another daily spot, which serves as a bulletin board for library news.

In 2020, the August Complex wildfire—California’s largest in recorded history—burned across more than a million acres over nearly three months, destroying an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. Much of that was within the Mendocino National Forest, as well as swaths of the Yolla Bolly–Middle Eel Wilderness, just northeast of Covelo, and the Yuki Wilderness to the south. Townspeople could see it burning in the hills.

“We got in touch with the sheriff and the public information officers of the California Division of Forestry and the Forest Service,” recalls Chichester. Every morning for a month and a half, KYBU broadcast a live interview with fire safety officials and fire reports, which were then archived and made available on the radio’s website for listeners anywhere in the country, any time during the day.

STAYING SAFE

In an isolated region where wildfires pose a very present danger, the library’s involvement with community safety goes beyond providing a news stream during an emergency. The library partners regularly with several fire and safety organizations, including the Round Valley Indian Tribes Natural Resources Department and the Mendocino County Fire Safe Council (FSC), on preparedness programs.

The library “create[s] community around them, and events where people can come and connect, and they’ve also supported all of our core programs,” says FSC Executive Director Scott Cratty. “We have a program that provides free defensible spaces systems”—ways to make property less vulnerable to fire—“for seniors and people who can’t afford to get the work done themselves, and [the library has] taken on advertising that for the community, coaching people. They even helped us find people who could do the work.”

In 2022, RVAMAC applied for and received a Community Foundation of Mendocino County Community Resiliency and Preparedness Fund grant to provide reflective address signs for local seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, or those who are low-income. The collaboration has provided signs for more than 300 residents, helping first responders find those who need them in an emergency.

KEEPING COMMUNITY CONNECTED Kids and adults benefit from Round Valley's personal service, diverse collections, and stable Wi-Fi. Photos by Ree Slocum

The library helped coordinate orders and distributed the signs—not only providing a critical community service but bringing new people through its doors. “Folks that we had never seen before inside the library showed up,” says Bennett. “The library won in so many ways, because these are all new library users.”

The library provides programming on wildfire preparedness, such as evacuation plans for people and animals (including livestock), how to sign up for emergency alerts, how to make do-it-yourself air filters, and how to prepare homes so they are more likely to survive a fire event. It coordinates free brush clearing and wood chipping days to help clear flammable debris and has given away rain gutter scoops for removing dried leaves and branches. “We’ve helped people change the string on their weed eaters, because that’s what you do when there’s a lot of flammable grasses—you need to get rid of that stuff,” says Bennett.

The Friends secured U.S. Department of Agriculture grants for solar panels in 2014, which have helped the building keep up with air conditioning demands in the summer. But Covelo’s emergency energy needs are greater than air conditioning alone; In 2021, with the support of several community grants, the library installed a 48 kw backup generator. It can supply power to the entire building in the event of an outage in the winter when power lines go down, during wildfire season, or when the Pacific Gas and Electric Company conducts periodical Public Safety Power Shutoffs for dangerous weather—during LJ’s video call with Bennett, the library was running, seamlessly, on generator power.

“There were fires everywhere in California that year,” Bennett recalls. “We responded to that need, and we keep the lights on now when stuff like that happens. So if it’s the midst of winter and everyone’s kind of scrambling to deal with life without electricity—for some people, that means without heating, or without internet connection—the library’s lights are on, it’s delivering a Wi-Fi signal and we’re lending books and movies.”

SMALL LIBRARY, BIG SERVICE

The Round Valley Branch is in the admirable—and somewhat rare—position of being fiscally stable. The Friends own the building and property in full, paying insurance and utility bills and maintaining the facilities. The county leases half the building from them and covers the library’s rent plus staff salaries and benefits, contributes to programming and collections, and maintains IT functions; the Mendocino County Library System provides the public Wi-Fi. Round Valley residents comprise only 3 percent of Mendocino County’s population, but it receives between 6 and 8 percent of countywide library use—22,000 visits in 2023—and is funded accordingly.

The Friends do their own fundraising as well. In addition to private endowments, several businesses in the area can be counted on for support; last fall a local road paver paved the library parking lot as an in-kind gift. A significant portion of money raised—Chichester estimates between $10,000 and $12,000 a year—supplements the county’s collection development funding.

Thanks to the additional support from the Friends, Bennett says, Round Valley often has newly published books not available in some of the other branches. “The collection is responsive to what folks are looking for when they come in,” he points out. “We spend a ton of time being ready for those kids who come on their class visits, but it’s not just for kids—our collection’s great. Our circulation numbers reflect that.”

That responsiveness—of the collection, and the library’s offerings as a whole, as well as its many strong partnerships and anchor spot in the busy Commons—make the Round Valley Branch a consummate small library that steps up for people in a big way.

“It really is a model of the new type of library, meeting the people’s needs and bringing community together,” says Haschak. “I think that’s what a library, as the open house for communities, needs to be doing. And they do it at an exceptional level.”

HONORABLE MENTION

NORTHFIELD PUBLIC LIBRARY l MINNESOTA

Natalie Draper | Library Director

Staff and leadership at Minnesota’s Northfield Public Library (NPL) believe that a library serves most effectively when in ongoing, open dialogue with its community. Prioritizing that connection extends in many directions, from the library-initiated Pride in the Park festival celebrating the local LGBTQIA+ community to a new Teen Space for gaming, studying, or just hanging out.

The library focuses on equity initiatives, particularly outreach and support to the city’s Latine community. To that end, NPL has increased bilingual services and tutoring and works to recruit Latine staff; it currently employs six full- and part-time Spanish-speaking staff members, who are mentored by the library’s outreach coordinator.

Arts are also central to NPL’s mission. Director Natalie Draper serves as staff liaison to the Northfield Arts and Culture Commission, and has led projects such as Sidewalk Poetry, now in its 11th year of pressing poems by local poets into freshly poured sidewalks; the city’s Poet Laureate program; diverse, intergenerational Open Mic Poetry gatherings; and a monthlong Hispanic Heritage Celebration arts festival that draws thousands and has grown into a citywide event.

For residents who may have limited transportation options or don’t frequent the library’s downtown site, last fall NPL opened the Library Oasis, a full-service satellite location in the Northfield Community Resource Center facility on the city’s south side. The ADA-accessible facility is located on a bus route near affordable housing and public schools. Sharing space with the Community Action Center, Healthy Community Initiative, Northfield Community College Collaborative, Fifty North (a center for active older adults), Head Start, United Way, and Rice County Social Services—all of which have robust partnerships with the library—the fully-staffed Library Oasis offers 24-hour access to holds, computers, notary service, printing, copying, faxing/scanning, flexible meeting and work space, and programs and services in English and Spanish.

NPL “prides itself on bringing the library with us wherever we go,” says Draper. “Whether at our concerts in the parks, through home delivery service, bookmobile and book bike visits, outreach to schools and communities, at the library’s new Oasis location, or at the Carnegie Library in Northfield’s historic downtown, the community recognizes the library as a trusted provider of friendly, inclusive, equitable service.”

VALLEY OF THE TETONS LIBRARY l IDAHO

Susan Strayer | Communications Manager

Serving an estimated population of 12,000 residents across more than 450 square miles, Valley of the Tetons Library (VTL)—with a staff of 14—is a small but mighty presence in Idaho’s Teton Valley.

“VTL is so creative,” says Communications Manager Susan Strayer. “With limited resources and a rural population, our library has gone above and beyond to offer unique solutions to patrons’ needs.” Those include home book delivery, 24/7 hold lockers, a makerspace that focuses on crafting and reuse as well as technology, a library of things and seed library, and take-home doll and science kits.

For residents living in the northern edge of Teton County, reaching VTL’s main branches in the towns of Driggs and Victor means a 30- to 40-minute drive. So in May, the library converted a 12' x 24' shed into the Tetonia satellite branch, bringing basic services closer to residents. While the building lacks running water, it provides full lending services, after-school and year-round programs, a reading loft, and a permanent collection of approximately 1,300 books and kits. Open hours are scheduled to correspond to the distribution times of the Teton Valley Community Resource Center, which provides food to those in need.

Community members clearly love their library. Program participation saw a 44 percent increase from 2022 to 2023, and the number of cardholders has grown by 11 percent since 2022—now more than half of county residents have a library card. VTL’s collection of more than 85,000 physical and digital items—including hotspots, laptops, light therapy lamps for the long winters, and power tools—circulated over 143,000 times last year.

That approval extends beyond patrons. Recently, a local landowner donated property for a permanent branch in Driggs, where the current library and makerspace buildings are outdated, small, and prone to flooding, and the rent has increased by more than 67 percent over the past three years. “It’s Christmas in August for all of Teton Valley!” says board of trustees member Boots Knighton. “The future home of our 21st century library is realized.”