Mission Statement
The Boyle County Public Library engages the community by promoting life-long learning, by connecting people to information and technologies, and by contributing to local cultural life.
The Library serves as a hub for the exchange of information and the provision of programs and services that enhance the quality of life in our community. Welcoming, accessible and free to all, the library preserves the past, explores the future, and offers the best of the present in educational, cultural and technological ideas.
Background Statement
Currently, Danville Library, Inc., offers Library collections of over 119,680 bar coded books, 14,089 media items (recorded books, music CDs, DVDs, etc.), 123 magazine/newspaper subscriptions, 36 electronic database subscriptions, 7,406 electronic books and 595 electronic videos and a Bookmobile that makes 42 stops a week. In 2011, visits to the library totaled 173,235, up 27 percent from 2010. There were 376 events in fiscal year 2011, with a total attendance of 9,980.
Library service in Danville has been continuous since 1893, when it began as a subscription library with 100 members. Organized as a promotion by a publishing company, the fledgling library opened with 300 volumes placed on shelves in a Main Street drugstore, overseen by a governing body of nine. Annual dues of $1 and overdue fines were the only sources of income beyondprivate donations.
The Young sisters, whose father, John, had been an early president of Centre College, bequeathed a considerable sum of money and various furnishings, including oriental rugs and oil paintings, for the establishment of a new facility. On Miss Eugenia’s death in 1936, the funds became available to construct the attractive Georgian style building which replaced the Downton house at Third and Broadway. Designed by Charles F. Cellarius of Cincinnati, Ohio, the facility was built by local workers under contractor, John W. Wood. The Young-Rodes Library building was finished by Christmas, 1938 and opening ceremonies were held in January, 1939. The book collection at that time totaled about 11,000 volumes.
The Library was first renovated in 1988, increasing the square footage to 17,000 square feet and preparing the Library for the soon-to-come digital revolution.
In 2005, the Library Board realized the current physical facilities no longer met the needs of the growing and changing community. After an extensive planning process, in 2007 the Library moved to temporary quarters while an $8.5 million expansion and renovation of the library building was begun. In January 2010, the new library building reopened, offering 44,000 square feet housing a children’s library three times its previous size, two additional floors of shelving area and expanded media collection, and incorporating a circa 1860 home as gallery, meeting and office space. Traffic in the library increased 65% in the first year of operation in the expanded building. Expansion of programming and the necessary staffing continues.
Impact Statement
Accomplishments of the past year:
1. The Boyle County Public Library completed the addition of the Karl A. Benson Library Park. The Library Park added needed parking spaces in a beautifully landscaped and environmentally responsible setting. Outdoor community programs are scheduled in the Library Park.
2. The Boyle County Public Library completed the final task of a multi-year building renovation and expansion, the Construction Project Audit. The $8.5 million project nearly tripled the size of the library to 44,000 square feet. The multi-year audit review was positive and found free of material weakness.
3. The Boyle County Public Library continues to seek written and working partnerships with many community service agencies. In addition to partnerships with the Kentucky Blood Center, the Danville Arts Partners, and the Danville Cultural Heritage District, the Library works with the Danville-Boyle County Arts Commission, the Boyle County Genealogy Society, and the Kentucky School for the Deaf Jacobs Hall Museum.
4. The Boyle County Public Library has expanded its Outreach Services to include a summer grant program, Fueling the Mind, which coordinates literacy programming with the summer food program offered through the local school districts.
5. The Boyle County Public Library continues to add digital material to its collections which document the written and photographic history of the county and which will be available for public research and use.
Goals for the current year include:
1. Continuing the expansion of Outreach services to the county by increasing the selection of classees offered through the mobile computer lab and through the extension of programming offered in the Library by community partner agencies.
2. Continue the revision and updating of Library policies and procedures, focusing on expanding the personnel manual.