Lee Public Library
The Community Advocate
Lee is a rural farm town right next to the agricultural sections of the UNH campus in Durham. Despite being so close to the university, taking a walk through the Lee Town Forest feels about as far away from city comforts as you can get.
In this small section of town you have the Library, Historical Society, church, and elementary school all next to each other. This is the beating heart of the community. I can not stress this point enough. This building houses some of the hardest working public servants I have ever met. In fact, my opinion isn’t even needed in this case because the staff keeps winning awards and grants year after year. It is a verifiable fact that they are not only some of the best, but they are always striving to be better.
They are a load-bearing fixture of the community. Their biggest strengths derive from their perceived weakness - that they’re small. They are able to do so much that the larger libraries wish that they could do for their communities because of their size (and passion). Despite not having the financial benefits of a city, they are able to tailor their programming with laser precision to be exactly what is needed for their patrons. In a perfect world, a big city librarian might want to be able to provide an after school program for the kids, but here they CAN, and they do, and it’s popular. The needs of the community are met here in ways that more metropolitan areas could only dream.
Building Amenities
This is a Small Building. Take a peek at the photos.
Having a small building means that you need to be able to make the absolute most of every square foot of space. The children’s room is the clear star of the building. If your business isn’t in that room, the abundant plants around the building give a very lived-in/homey feel even though the building was just renovated last year (2024). In the near future, there are likely to be more upgrades coming with plans in the works for more outdoor space if all goes well.
There is a free coffee/refreshment bar provided by their Friends group (thank you!!), plenty of comfy seating, 1 large table to work at, and a printing area. Like I said, every inch counts.
In addition to what the main building offers, the library is also able to use the old town hall (just feet away to the left). A majority of their programs are run out of this building because it provides much more space. The town forest is just to the right of the building where you can find some walking trails, a (lit) trail to the elementary school, and the storywalk. They may have a small footprint, but there is a lot to do on the grounds.
Children’s Room
When they were starting the most recent renovation, the old carpet was pulled up to reveal the beautiful hardwood floors that you see in the photos below. The entire floor is from the original building, while the rest of the room has all of the updates you could want. There are plenty of toys, seating, craft/art supplies, and activity kits. If you look closely, you will also see the small touches that show how much thought went into tailoring the space. The sink near the art supplies has an additional child-height sink - as does the bathroom, to help foster independence. There is a coat rack with a row of hooks that only go as high as my thigh. The shelving for the toys and supplies are on child-level. It is clear that the renovation was very intentional with experienced librarians at the helm.
Teen Room
A blank canvas. During the renovation, the staff wanted to make sure that once it was finished, the teens in the community would be able to have their own space. As of right now it looks rather bare, but that is because they want to make sure that teens are able to give their input for what kind of space they would like to have. I would consider it an ambitious and exciting thing to look forward to.
Programs/Events
I will link their Google Calendar down below. It is…packed. My mind is honestly boggled. The amount of programming that they fit into a calendar month, and manage to run it so well, is wild. There are programs for toddlers. Programs for kids. Teens. Adults. Seniors. What sticks out for me most is that they aren’t afraid to try new things. Not every program is going to be 100% full, but they’re still willing to try and offer it just in case. That’s how you nail down what the community wants and needs. That is what they have done.
Some of the programs are so popular that there are actual lines for sign-ups. With the high demand, they go to great lengths to rotate participation to make sure that everyone eventually is able to participate. The program that I brought my toddler to had (at my count) SEVENTEEN children present. That is easily the most kids I have ever seen at a storytime.
I also love that they’re offering a CPR class this month.
Collection
It’s small. They have been, and are still currently weeding out the old collections and getting new books in. They also do use the interlibrary loan program and Libby!
Friendliness
Yes, they are friendly. More than that, they’re passionate.
Parking
There are a good amount of spaces, but I could see it filling up very quickly if a program was running. Luckily there is the parking at the church next door (with a quick walk through the woods).