With more and more Post Office branches shutting down and libraries looking harder than ever for ways to keep relevant, it may come as no surprise that the USPS has been reaching out to libraries (and service stations, convenience store etc) to see if they would be interested in becoming part of their Village Post Office Program.
The USPS describes the Village Post Office Program on their website as being “operated by community businesses to provide selected postal products and services, including Forever stamps and Priority Mail Flat Rate packages and envelopes” (How to Open a Village Post Office, 2012). Through the program, the USPS and the library would agree on a price the library would be paid for acting as a Village Post Office and would sign a contract for the service. Acting as a Village Post Office could be a great way for a library to make extra money, keep it a key part of the community, and just get more people in the library building (who will hopefully turn into library more frequent library users). The pairing may not be for all libraries so be sure to research the arrangement carefully before starting the process. To start looking into if it’s right for your library, check out the USPS website.
Anyone live in a town that has a Village Post Office? Where is it located? How do you feel about the library and post office being the same building?
Until next time,
~Serena
Librarian On The Loose 