Beyond the Pages: Tellico Village Library
Published March 1, 2023

Tellico Village Library front desk; image courtesy of the library

TELLICO VILLAGE, TN -- A hub for learning beyond literature, the Tellico Village Library provides more than books for people young and old. Though located in an active senior living community, the library serves all of Loudon and Monroe Counties. The Tellico Village Public Library is the only library in the state owned by its Friends of the Library organization and does not receive tax funding.

Library manager, Carol DeForest, said with many older adults living in the community, the library tailors to both retirees and grandchildren. Having The Neighborhood at Tellico Village, where older adults who need assisted living and memory care, gives the library the opportunity to provide a unique resource. Tellico Village Library has a memory care collection of picture books for adults as well as puzzles and backpacks filled with items from the 1950s and 1960s. Those reminiscent items can help with memory to talk about favorite pastimes.

“It’s important in this community. This is a whole new program. I just started about two years. We focus on the older adults,” Library Manager, Carol DeForest, said.

The library also has a delivery program with local nursing homes and senior care facilities as well as people with mobile disabilities. The alternative lending program offers telescopes and literacy backpacks. People can check out a telescope to view the night sky on a clear evening. With the literacy backpacks, a dozen backpacks encompass different topics, such as music, outer space, Tennessee, dinosaurs and magic, just to name a few. In each backpack there’s education items that make learning fun including books, DVDs, puzzles, toys and more. Since 2018 library members can check out a literacy backpack for their kids or grandkids to enjoy, all for free.

The library is also unique when it comes to financials.

DeForest gets her budget from the Property Owners Association and the state. She said she received about $15,000 from the state last year and a small amount from the POA. DeForest explained that people often think their tax dollars paying for books and other library expenses, but they don’t because there’s no municipality. Other than DeForest’s role and one other part-time employee, the library is run on behalf of volunteers. That’s where Friends of the Library comes into the picture. The 501c3 non-profit is devoted to raising money for the building, upkeep, mortgage, utilities, maintenance—keeping the physical library going.

Cheryl LaMaster, president of Friends of the Library and Tellico Village resident said, “It’s [Friends of the Library] a group of people that are passionate about making the library work.” The group dedicates a lot of their time to furthering the library.

It’s not typical for the library facility to be privately funded, yet the library itself be public.

To help with costs, Friends of the Library holds different fundraisers and book sales throughout the year to raise money for the library.

The Friends of the Library also finds grants to help with infrastructure and building updates.

DeForest and LaMaster work hand in hand to keep the Tellico Village Library running.