Introduction: Rural Public Libraries in Academic and Political Contexts

Perhaps the most famous public library building in the United States is the main location of the New York Public Library (NYPL), which has expanded to nearly 650,000 square feet since its opening in 1911. Its iconic marble lion statues were re-christened Patience and Fortitude during the Great Depression by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia (New York Public Library, 2011). As iconic as the NYPL may be, 6,408 of the United States’ 16,695 public library buildings serve areas with populations of 2,500 or fewer people and possess a median of 1.9 full-time equivalent employees (Real & Rose, 2017). Rural library buildings average just 2,592 square feet, which is slightly smaller than a typical single-family home built within the United States (Perry, 2016). However, while not as physically imposing as the NYPL, the positive influences that these rural libraries have on the lives of their patrons each year are just as impressive.