Fort Chiswell, in Wythe County, will now have a library that’s part of the Wythe-Grayson Regional library system.
The grand opening of the Fort Chiswell Library is Wednesday Nov. 19 5-7 pm. The library will be open to the public every Wednesday 10am-7pm, Thursday 9am-5pm, and Saturday 9am-2pm.
“There’s a lot of areas still out here that do not have internet. They’re very rural,” said Diane Carpio, Vice President for the Friends Of The Fort Chiswell Library, a non-profit that formed several years ago to create a public library inside a former bank building.
“It was kind of a makeshift library. It wasn’t a formal library,” Carpio said. “But now it’s going to be a formal library.”
A local resident named Joe Hale bought this building for the library. He passed away in 2021 and his estate is selling it to the Friends organization, which has spent years fundraising, and will continue doing so to be able to pay the mortgage on the building. The Wythe library system will pay rent for the building and the salary of a part-time librarian.
Amy Adams, director of Wythe-Grayson Regional Library, said the work of the volunteer group made this possible.
“That’s been majorly important,” Adams said. “We wouldn’t have a building if not for them.”
People can also request books that are in the Wythe-Grayson Regional Library catalogue to be delivered to the Fort Chiswell Library through a BookMobile van. Adams said this service is funded in part through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), a federal program that President Donald Trump has proposed cutting. If those cuts come through, Adams said they may have to do additional fundraising to cover the cost of keeping their BookMobile program operating, as well as other resources.
The Fort Chiswell Library will also have tutoring available, and a children’s room, meeting space and wifi access, Carpio said.
“They’ll have a room for the teenagers, with video games in there,” Carpio said. The library is located across the street from a high school and a middle school, and near three elementary schools, making it a central location for school-aged children and their families.
