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Missoula Public Library director highlights culture‑house model, bookmobile and relaxed card rules
Summary
Missoula Public Library director Slaven Lee described the library’s Swedish "culture house" model, partnerships with nonprofits and a bookmobile that logged roughly 4,000 visits in its first year. He also outlined new, more flexible library‑card policies and concerns about ebook licensing costs.
Slaven Lee, director of the Missoula Public Library, told the Missoula County Commissioners podcast that the downtown library was built on a Swedish "culture house" model that colocates museums, nonprofits and library services to share resources and amplify community impact. "We're the first library in North America to adopt this model," Lee said.
Lee said the building houses Spectrum Discovery Area, Families First, the University of Montana Living Lab and MCAT Media Resource under agreements that prioritize shared programming and staffing. The arrangement has enabled joint grant work, including a federally funded "Changing of the Brain" project that will recruit teens into a cohort to learn about brain‑science and then deliver outreach programs back into the community.
The director described a broad branch network—Swan Valley/Condon, Seeley Lake, Potomac, Lolo, Frenchtown and Big Sky—and an expanded bookmobile program intended to reach geographically isolated residents. Lee…
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