Keep an Independent Library for a Day

About this experience

Help run a small independent library for the morning. You will sort donations, decide what earns a spot on the shelves and learn the cataloging system Grace uses to keep 18,000 books findable.

In the conservation room you will learn basic book repair on practice volumes: reattaching a loose spine, mending torn pages and cleaning old cloth covers. The morning ends at the front desk during community reading hour, plus a frank talk about how a member-funded library pays its bills.

Your day

1. 10:00 AM

   Open the library

   Walk the stacks with Grace and hear how the collection was built.

   30 min

2. 10:30 AM

   Sort and catalog donations

   Evaluate a box of donated books and catalog the keepers.

   1 hr

3. 11:30 AM

   Book repair basics

   Repair a practice volume in the conservation room with archival materials.

   1 hr 15 min

4. 12:45 PM

   Reading room and funding

   Help at the front desk during reading hour and talk through memberships, grants and events.

What’s included

• Tea and pastries
• Beginner book repair kit to take home
• One-year library membership

Good to know

• Rare editions are handled only under supervision; hands are washed before handling.
• Some dust is unavoidable; let the host know if you have allergies.
• Suitable for ages 12+ with an adult.

Your curator

Grace HollowayMLIS, 15 years in libraries and book conservation

Grace Holloway worked as an academic librarian and rare book conservator before buying an old storefront and turning it into a member-supported library. The collection now holds about 18,000 volumes, including a small room of regional first editions. She runs it with two part-time staff and a crew of volunteers.