An idea was born in the local post office that Newbern would benefit from a children’s library, and as discussion continued, the idea grew into the wish for a full-service library. The need for a library became more urgent when the local school closed. A new town hall building had been completed by Rural Studio students in 2011, which freed up an existing building as a possibility to house a library.

H I S T O R Y O F T H E L I B R A R Y
The Bank of Newbern was built in 1906, but closed during the stock market crash of the 1920’s. The building was used sporadically in the intervening years as an insurance office, a meeting place for the town council and a voting place. So, when Town Hall opened and could be used by the council and for voting, the Walthall family who owned the bank building agreed to lease it to a Library board.

Rural Studio made the commitment to build a library as one of their 5th year thesis projects and students Will Gregory, Morgan Acino, Stephen Durham, and Ashley Clark chose the library as their project. Interested local community members began to meet and explore the process to form a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and to apply for membership in Alabama Public Library Service. In 2012, a board of directors was elected, made of teachers, postal workers, a retired librarian, and other community members, including Rural Studio Director Andrew Freear. 

The student team was introduced to the Board and began to meet with them regularly.  While the Board continued to create the support structure for a community library, the students started work on the design. They decided on an adaptive reuse project of the old bank building. Bookshelves line the space within the width of the old building and a new addition created a room where readers are immersed in books. Complementing the larger public space, a series of alcoves within the bookshelves accommodate computers, private study nooks, window seats, storage closets, bathrooms, and access to the outdoors. The artifacts from the original building, such as the old heart pine floors and bank vault door, were repurposed and preserved inside the new space. A courtyard to the north of the building provides library patrons with shaded outdoor reading and activity space. The construction of the building was completed in May 2015.

During the Summer of 2015, dozens of local volunteers worked to move thousands of donated books that had been stored on the second floor of the local fire house.  The books were sorted and catalogued to fill the new shelves.  A Librarian was hired, and she and volunteers worked to create the systems needed to actually operate a library. Donated computers were connected to the internet. On October 17, 2015, Newbern Public Library opened its doors to the public.