History of the Library

Read how the Bondurant Community Library was established and how it has evolved to become such an important part of our community.

History of Organization

The Bondurant Community Library has been operating since 1976. It was originally located in a small brick building in the downtown area. In 1997, the library moved ½ block north to a location at 17 Main St. SE, which provided 1,920 square feet of space, where the library resided until November 2008. In December 2008, work was completed on a new facility, which provided approximately 7,365 square feet of space, or about triple the size of the previous library building. Inside the new library were public Internet computer stations, an outdoor patio, a fireplace, and a Community Meeting Room with a capacity of 90 people.  In September 2021, an expansion project was completed with three separate additions added to the existing building. This expansion project doubled the size of the library to over 14,000 square feet.  It included expanded community room space to accommodate up to 300 people, smaller group study rooms, a maker space, and a dedicated story time room.

The Bondurant Community Library received state accreditation in 2003. It is a part of the Central Library Service Area and the Polk County Library Association. It participates in the Open Access and Inter-library Loan program. The library is able to offer library services, such as the circulation of books, videos, DVDs, audio and CD books, downloadable audio and ebooks, puzzles, puppets, and magazines. Public access to computers, internet, fax machine, scanner, and photocopier are available. Programming includes a summer reading program, story times, outreach programs to the school, tours of the library, monthly programs for elementary-aged children, visits to Courtyard Estates, and an adult book discussion group. The library is open 61 hours per week.

Interested in more history? Check out the Iowa Historical Society.