DENVER — The role libraries are playing in our communities is changing as people come in asking for help with things other than books, like resources for addiction and mental health.
Rachel Fewell, the Central Library Administrator in Denver, has been with the library system for 12 years.
"I don't think there was any way for us to predict this," Fewell said. "But I do feel like we stepped into our roll post-recession asking, 'What does this community need?'"
Librarians are able to scan the community and assess what their needs are.
"The doors are open every day," Fewell said. "People are comfortable with the concept and familiar. I can come in, talk to a human being and ask them to help me with resources."
Since 2017, library staff has helped reverse 40 overdoses inside libraries, mostly at the downtown location.
They've hired eight social workers and peer navigators because that's what staff said they needed.
"Folks who have lived experience," Fewell said. "Maybe with housing challenges in the past, refugees, maybe they are veterans. They lived experience in some of the ways we frequently see customers say, 'Here is my situation, can you help me in any way?'"
Fewell said she's definitely seen their role change, especially post-recession and through the pandemic.
"One hundred percent libraries are on the frontlines," he said. "We are the most public of public buildings and walk in any time. We are open with whatever is going on in their lives. We see people at their most vulnerable."
It's why new libraries are being built with location and community resources in mind.
Westwood's current library is the smallest in the city. 18% of the people living in the neighborhood don't have access to the internet at home, and it is a historically underserved community, according to the Denver Library budget proposal to city council.
It's why Denver Libraries is partnering with the non-profit LifeSpan Local, a group turning an old church into a space that can house a bigger library. LifeSpan is also bringing several community partners that will support early childhood education programs, support immigrant and refugee families.
"The library is a place they can feel safe to learn and to play and ask for support," said Natalia Sullivan, with LIfeSpan Local.
Sullivan said after talking to community members for years, they kept hearing from families they wanted more library services. It's going to be co-located with mental health services, a legal clinic and early childhood education resources, that LifeSpan is coordinating and fundraising for.
"These are core elements that are taken for granted that other parts of the city have that Westwood hasn't had for decades," she said.
The new library is expected to open next year if things go to plan, and will alongside a test kitchen, community spaces and a space for young adults built off their input.
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