QuickTake:

The volunteer-run library is raising money to add audiobooks and e-books. Many residents in the River Road and Santa Clara area would have to pay more than $100 per year to access the Eugene Public Library.

Head librarian Mishelle Prior calls it “the little library that could.”

Tucked behind the AutoRama used car dealership off River Road, the River Road Santa Clara Volunteer Library is open seven days a week for six hours a day — with extended hours on Mondays and Thursdays — and is completely volunteer-run.

It serves about 40 patrons weekly and about 700 year-round, many of whom cannot get a library card from the Eugene Public Library without paying. Though they have Eugene addresses, most residents of the River Road and Santa Clara neighborhoods do not pay city taxes because the residential area is largely unincorporated — so they do not have free access to the city library.

A small group of residents in the area rallied in 2003 to collect and catalog enough books to open a community library.

“We started this library so that people in those two neighborhoods would have the same access to books and other library things as the people in the city do,” Prior said.

River Road Santa Clara Volunteer Library is raising money to expand access to ebooks and audiobooks for neighborhood residents, who largely do not have free access to the Eugene Public Library. Credit: Lilly St. Angelo / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

A library for all

Neighborhood resident Cord Slatton-Valle said he and his wife were excited to learn there was a library on their street when they moved there eight years ago. 

Their son, Finnegan, was born shortly after and has grown up visiting the library and loves reading. Slatton-Valle said he likes how the children’s section is in the front, making the library especially inviting for kids.

“It’s tiny, but they have a lot, and there’s something for everybody,” Slatton-Valle said.

The library has weekly cornerstone events like toddler story time and “Crafternoon for Kids,” and offers access to 14,000 pieces of material including fiction and nonfiction for children, young adults and adults, as well as large-print and Spanish-language books. Anyone in the Eugene area can get a library card. A $20 per-family donation is recommended, but not required.

For those who don’t live in the Eugene city limits, it costs $132 a year to have a Eugene Public Library card. There are exceptions — young children (birth to kindergarten) who live in the Eugene 4J or Bethel school district boundaries are eligible for library cards, as well as all enrolled students and staff of these districts. 

Volunteer Jann Rhiner works the circulation desk at the River Road Santa Clara Library, which serves residents who live in the unincorporated areas of Eugene. Credit: Lilly St. Angelo / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

Small space, big goals

Prior is looking to expand River Road Santa Clara Library patrons’ access to more volumes through the Libby app, which would unlock 80,000 audio and e-books for patrons. The price is steep, however, and will require the library to raise $7,000, close to doubling the library’s annual budget. 

According to Charissa Nelson, board treasurer and fundraising coordinator, it costs $8,000 annually to pay for utilities and insurance (the River Road Water District allows the library free use of its building).

Besides patron donations of money, books, cans and bottles, the library applies for grants to fund itself. The Lane Library League, a nonprofit organization that supports the seven volunteer-run libraries in Lane County, granted it $1,500 this year. Throughout the years, it has won grants from Lane County Cultural Coalition, Autzen Foundation, Franz Bakery Foundation and United Way, among other organizations.

Prior was a patron of the library since it opened its doors in 2005, bringing her kids and grandkids to the library regularly. She became a volunteer two years ago and is now applying to go back to school to get a master’s degree in library science because of how much she’s enjoyed the experience.

Now, she’s focused on using a grant the library received to buy more children’s books that reflect the diversity of kids’ experiences, including having a disability, having a family member in prison or being adopted or fostered.

“We make sure to use the window-and-mirror model,” Prior said. “We want kids who come in to be able to see themselves in the books or a window into someone else’s lives.”

How to visit

Address: 105 Oakleigh Lane
Website: https://rrscvolunteerlibrary.org/
Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday and Thursday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Lilly is a graduate of Indiana University and has worked as a journalist at the Indianapolis Star and in Burlington, Vermont, as well as working as a foreign language teacher in France. She covers education and children's issues for Lookout Eugene-Springfield.