Silver City’s Volunteer-Powered Library

Silver City, Nevada - The Silver City Volunteer Library has thousands of books thanks to donations from Lyon, Carson, and Washoe library systems, and individuals and groups across the U.S. And since Silver City is a community of book lovers, there have been donations of materials from just about every household. The collection includes something for most interests and for every age. Our little library has no regular hours, but locals can borrow books whenever they're at the Silver City School House (community center) for a town event or meeting. Most of the collection is stored in the basement of the School House so that there is plenty of room for other uses on the main floor. Volunteers rotate the books every three to four months, and new arrivals are added each month so there are always new things on the shelves.

History: The Volunteer Library began around 2003. It first existed as a casual collection at the School House with a few book shelves that locals browsed during "Coffee House Fridays" and other events. After the original Silver City School House burned, the books that survived the fire were kept at the Silver City Fire Station and the collection gradually grew while the School House was being rebuilt. By the time the collection was moved to the new School House building in 2008, it included thousands of books.

The Collection: The library includes books by current and former Comstock residents such as Robert G. Elston , Robert Elston Jr., Karen Wright, David Toll, Jim McCormick, Shelia Swan, Shaun Griffin, and Peter Laufer, as well as publications by visiting writers and artists such as Pulitzer-Prize nominated poet David Lee and Danish artist Nes Lerpa. There are hundreds of titles in the sci-fi and mystery categories, as well as best sellers, poetry, and a broad range of nonfiction. Due to a generous donation from local artist Karen Kreyeski, the library has a section on art history and selected artists, including works on Picasso, Wahhol, Escher, Goya, Gaughin, Klimt, van Gogh, O’Keeffe, Judy Chicago, and Aubrey Beardsley. Former residents Kristen Bachler and Betty Kaplowitz have made several large donations over the years, including multiple new copies of novels such as Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Orwell’s 1984 when their book store closed last year. Many have thoughtfully donated collections of classic literature that had been cherished by their parents or spouses. United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra has been a generous donor of children’s books.

Public Programming: Even though Silver City's is a tiny volunteer-run library, by partnering with other groups it has been able to offer arts and cultural programming such as history lectures, book signings, and performances. For instance, Dr. Sue Fawn Chung, an expert on Chinese-American history, came from Las Vegas in 2006 to give a well-attended lecture on 19th century Chinese contributions to the Comstock. In 2010 Dr. Doris Dwyer gave a Chautauqua living history performance in which she portrayed the famous photographer, Margaret Bourke-White, who, coincidentally, married novelist Erskine Caldwell in Silver City in 1939 when the couple toured Nevada. Both events were supported through Nevada Humanities.

Over the years the library has sponsored book signings and meet and greet events with authors such as geographer Robert Elston Jr and artist Jim McCormick. And the library has also partnered with groups like Silver City Arts and St. Mary’s Art Center to co-sponsor readings by award-winning writers such as Shaun Griffin, and pop-up art shows by internationally known artists such as Nes Lerpa of Denmark. During the years when the Harry Potter books were all the rage, the library partnered with Healthy Communities Coalition to host several Harry Potter-themed parties that nearly every kid in town attended.

Contact: Silver City's volunteer-run library is located within the Silver City School House at 385 High Street. For more information, contact Quest Lakes at 847-0742 or see the library’s Facebook page.
A version of this article appeared in the Mason Valley News in 2018.