FORT CHISWELL, Va. – Access to libraries in rural areas can be extremely hard for folks, but that is why the Friends of Fort Chiswell Library are constantly doing fundraisers and donations to make sure the Fort Chiswell Library does not go away.
The Fort Chiswell Library is a community library run by a local non-profit The Friends of The Fort Chiswell Library.
Their goal is to bring a fully functional public library to Fort Chiswell, but they have one problem. Since they do not own the building or land, every month they have to find a way to pay their bills.
“We’re holding fundraisers to pay the mortgage for the building,” said Diane Carpio, vice president of the Friends of the Fort Chiswell Library
Recently, they have been working to become integrated into the local library systems, and while it won’t solve all their problems, they said folks in the area need access to what a library can provide.
“A lot of people still in the rural communities don’t have internet,” Carpio said. “We’re going to have 24/7 Wi-Fi in the parking lot available for the kids that do not have Wi-Fi or any connections at home.”
One way they are raising money is by partnering with local organizations like Blood Connection for a blood drive.
“This is huge for us,” Carpio said. “For every person that comes and donates blood, we get 25 dollars.”
I talked to one woman who was there to donate blood and she said she believes a fully functional library could be great for the area.
“It would’ve made my high school life so much easier to just be able to walk right across from the schoolhouse, go to the library and do my homework,” said Dreama Oda.
Leaders said they plan to hold more fundraisers like the blood drive in the future until they can get the land paid off.