VPOs seem to be a natural extension for increased access for the entire community when they are paired with the accessibility, customer service, and convenient hours of the public library. Susan Hildreth, Director of Institute of Museum and Library Services, blogged in “ Is a Village Post Office Coming to a Library Near You?” in 2012, “When a rural post office reduces hours, people often feel that in addition to losing a place to receive and send mail, they have lost a place that gives their community an identity and a place where neighbors can meet and share news.” 2 Public libraries have always held together the fabric of the community with easy access to resources. The VPO service packs the convenience of one-stop shopping and convenient hours with the added benefits of preserving the unique zip code of the town-which would be lost without a postal location-along with the obvious marketing advantage for the public library. 1 At a time when thousands of post offices face reduced hours, village post offices planted in public libraries in places like Burt, Iowa Ephrata, Pa and Moline, Mich. Public Libraries, General Stores, and other storefronts enter into an agreement with the United States Postal Service to provide village post offices at their sites in exchange for an annual sum. The United States Post Office, facing reduced hours and closures-particularly in sparsely populated towns-seeks willing partners to house a Village Post Office (VPO).
Rural libraries have recently joined with the United States Postal Service to provide postal services right inside the library.
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