Are you looking for an opportunity to serve the community? Consider becoming a Rapid City Library Foundation board member. By volunteering their time and resources, board members support the Rapid City Public Library and the services it provides to people throughout Pennington County. If you are interested in learning more about being a Foundation board member contact Nancy Gowen at 342-5066.

Rapid City citizens have enjoyed library services for over a century, beginning quite humbly with a volunteer reading room organized by enterprising community women. Since then, library services have constantly evolved to meet the requirements of a growing population and to keep pace with new information needs and capabilities. The downtown library at 610 Quincy Street opened its doors in 1972 and, in 2002, a 19,000 sq. ft. expansion was added. Sometimes the emphasis has been on building library collections, sometimes on adding new technologies and services, and in 2008 it was about bringing library services closer to home for residents of north Rapid with the opening of the Rapid City Public Library North located in General Beadle Community School.

General Beadle Community School was planned to have a wider mission within the community it serves. It offers K-5 education, library resources, a community health clinic and community meeting rooms to the North Rapid neighborhood. Thus, the North Library serves a unique dual function. During school hours, the library serves the student population. After school, on weekends and during the summer months the library is open to the general public. The North Library aims to bring essential services to the North Rapid community including convenient access to internet, books, newspapers, programs and reference staff.

"An accessible public library is good for the neighborhood," said Jean-Claire Hamblin, Community School Coordinator. "It's a free and safe place for kids and families to go after school and on weekends, and is especially valuable for those who do not have transportation. The addition of Rapid City Public Library North to General Beadle  Community School adds to the overall vibrancy of the atmosphere while serving the needs of the people in this area."

Two well-utilized services at the North Library are the public computers and internet. Many patrons visit the North Library on a weekly basis for access to the internet to check email, read news, and complete other tasks. Staff is on hand to help patrons with questions from where to find resume writing tips to how to use databases.

LaRay Janley, a single mother with a ten-year-old son and frequent patron of the North Library, said, "We don't have internet at home, so we come to the library to use it. The location is convenient and all the services we need are here. I don't know what we would do without the North Library."

In addition to traditional and electronic services, the North Library offers various programs throughout the year including No School Discovery Days, Families and Jammies Story Time and Saturday Story Times. These programs bring in children and families from the surrounding neighborhoods as well as daycares and youth organizations. 

 "I hear people who attend Families and Jammies Story Time voicing a sense of ownership and pride in their special time," said Jean-Claire. "They have demonstrated through their actions that this is an activity they value."

A third location of the Rapid City Public Library is in the works. The Rapid City Public Library East will be housed within Western Dakota Tech. It will bring the same access to materials, services, staff and programs currently offered at the Downtown and North Libraries closer to the residents of east Rapid City and Rapid Valley.