Just north of Austin, Texas, the Jarrell Community Library and Resource Center (JCLRC) serves a small but quickly growing region with a lot more than books and grant funding from the American Library Association (ALA) is playing a significant role in helping it do so.
“Our library and resource center has had an incredible impact on our 17,000 community,” says JCLRC director Susan Gregurek. The zip code community of Jarrell, she explains, is the fastest-growing community in the state, with most of its growth taking place outside of the city. That’s due in part to Sonterra, a rapidly growing nearby planned community situated on more than 2,000 acres with a population of 19,000. To put that in perspective, Jarrell itself has less than 6,000 residents, and U.S. Army Fort Hood, only 20 miles away, is home to about 35,000 people.
So, besides books, the library has become a de facto hub of “health, human, social, educational, and business services” for the community, Gregurek says. Regarding mental health services, for example, JCLRC staffs two full-time mental wellness peer support specialists that each meet with up to 100 individuals every month. The library also offers numerous related programs, including a play and support group for neurodivergent youth and their families, an arts and crafts group, a music program, and a dementia caregivers support network.
JCLRC opened in May 2019 as a nonprofit library with a volunteer staff. In September 2021, the board received a grant to pay for a director, and that’s when Gregurek was hired. At the time, she recalls, the library’s collection was mostly made up of older, donated books. Gregurek decided to reevaluate its resources, keeping Jarrell’s median age of 36 in mind.
“I noticed young adults would look through our collections and walk away without checking out books, so I applied for grants and received $7,500,” she says. “I began buying resources that were interesting for a younger clientele.” This is when the library began to thrive, she says.
JCLRC received three Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities grants from ALA, in 2023, 2024, and 2025, and has used the funds to help the library meet ADA standards, purchase materials needed for mental-health programs, and give program facilitators a chance to expand their knowledge and skill sets through training and certification programs.
As Gregurek puts it: “The ALA grant has been a lifesaver to us as a small library.”
But that’s only part of the story: Other big changes are taking place at JCLRC. In recent years, JCLRC’s footprint (and future) has changed substantially. That nearby planned community of Sonterra? Jarrell is growing so fast, Gregurek says, that the city added a Parks and Recreation department in 2025. The addition reduced JCLRC’s physical space inside a Sonterra Municipal Utility District building to a third of its previous size, with an ultimate order to leave the building entirely.
In 2025, two acres of land were donated to the library by benefactor Marie Boatright, and a capital campaign has also been created to plan a new 5,000-15,000 square foot library and resource center. Gregurek says the library is leaning on pro-bono engineers, surveyors, land developers, attorneys, road construction, utility construction, a project manager, an architect, and others who have dedicated time and effort looking at what that new space might provide.
“(Our) team has a goal of $10 million for the building and hopes for $35 million for an endowment to run the library in the future,” she adds. “Our small building would then become a source of sustainability by leasing the building.”
Gregurek stresses the importance that libraries can serve as safe places for community engagement, reflecting on her own library’s significant steps forward.
“We thrive on being the hub of community services,” she says. “We’re proud to be the center of community information, interactions, and unification of a community divided by a highway.”
About Libraries Transforming Communities
ALA’s Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities initiative announced its final round of grantees in April 2026, and since the initial announcement four years ago, four rounds of grants have distributed $14 million to 836 public, academic, tribal, and school libraries in all 50 states and the Northern Mariana Islands. Sixteen libraries received funding in all four rounds of the grant.
All selected libraries received grants of $10,000 and $20,000 to increase the accessibility of facilities, services, and programs to better serve people with disabilities. In the final round, 73% of libraries serve communities of less than 5,000 people.
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Feature image: Groundbreaking on the new Jarrell Community Library and Resource Center. Photo: Jarrell Community Library and Resource Center.
