For more than a decade, residents in Boiling Spring Lakes have been waiting for a library.
The efforts began when Brunswick County started to grow in the mid-2000s, and a group of residents made the case for a county-owned library within the city’s corporate limits.
Back then, only five of Brunswick County’s 19 municipalities — Southport, Oak Island, Shallotte, Calabash and Leland — had a county-owned library. That remains true today.
When efforts for a county-owned library stalled, residents worked with city leaders toward a city library. The Boiling Spring Lakes Library Commission — a citizen-led committee appointed by the Boiling Spring Lakes Board of Commissioners — was established and started working toward that goal.
“It’s always been the
game plan to have a library-library,” said Sherrie Kuzian, current chair of the Boiling Spring Lakes Library Commission.
But knowing that would take time and funding, the commission wanted something for residents in the meantime. This first library — affectionately referred as a “mini-library” — was established in 2009. It was a small room of bookshelves and metal shelving in the building’s lobby showcasing new releases.
For years, that room served as the city’s library, but after the police department moved to its new headquarters and the old police department facility became vacant, the library commission saw an opportunity.
“Then it was like, ‘Who gets it?’” Kuzian recalled.
City leaders decided the building would be a shared library and senior center. The city received a grant from the state to renovate the building. Shelving was also donated.
While the library just opened earlier this year, the library commission is already thinking about the future. They hope to add more shelves and books in the years to come, and this year’s focus is expanding the nonfiction collection.
But for now, they are pleased with the facility.
“We got a library,” Kuzian said. “We got more than what we had.”
Tammy Sollenberger, who has worked with the library commission since its early days, pointed out that more rooms and books would be difficult to manage right now.
“Yes, we could fill this with books, but we need a staff,” Sollenberger said. “We don’t have money for library staff; we’re all volunteers.”
She explained having the senior center there allows for parks and recreation staff to oversee the building, allowing the library to be open more often.
The library is staffed by parks and recreation employees Monday through Friday with volunteers handling Saturday hours. Currently, the library is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the first and third Saturdays of each month. It is closed on holidays.
While the library does not offer e-books, it does have some books on tape and DVDs. The commission also wants to hear what residents would like to see on the shelves and invite the public to reach out to them to share their thoughts. Email them at our.bsl.library@gmail.com.
“This is their library,” Sollenberger said. “We want it to reflect what they want.”
Renee Spencer is the community engagement editor at the StarNews. Reach her at rspencer@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Facility marks a new chapter for the Boiling Spring Lakes library
