Fifty-Five Cards Have Opened a Minnesota Library 800 Times
Fifty-five cardholders have opened the Wyoming, Minnesota, library more than 800 times this year during unstaffed hours. The system has not funded a second branch.
The board has not funded a second branch. Hours were cut in three counties.
Michael Sayen lives in Forest Lake, north of Minneapolis, and writes in the Wyoming branch of the East Central Regional Library when the staff have gone home. The day after Labor Day he was there with a novel. He also uses the room for job applications and court filings that do not wait for Tuesday's posted hours. Pastor Ryan Stigile, who lives in Wyoming, Minnesota, uses it in the evening. The town has no coffee shop. The other option he named was McDonald's.
The Daily Yonder published the account on 13 October 2026. Reasons to be Cheerful republished it on 15 October. The programme is called extended access. A library card associated with any of Minnesota's 12 regional systems can unlock the door, but only after the holder signs up. At this branch, signup is in person, about 15 minutes, including a look at the defibrillator, the first-aid kit and the exits. Users must be 18. Cameras watch the room. Executive director Carla Lydon said that if something goes wrong, staff can see who badged in and pull the privilege.
The count is the news. Fifty-five people have registered. They have come more than 800 times this year. Lydon said use is up 66 percent since the test phase ended in April. The Wyoming branch is the only one in the East Central system with the doors on a card. Renovation, including cameras, cost about 70,000 dollars. The software is about 12,000 dollars a year. The board has not committed money for a second branch. Earlier this year the system cut staffed hours in three counties because funding fell. Lydon said staffed hours at Wyoming itself did not shrink to make the unstaffed hours possible. Aitkin County is discussing a small levy increase that would still not restore 2025 hours.
A separate system, Timberland Regional Library in western Washington, shows the same idea at a different scale and with its own money problem: 12 branches, more than 4,100 enrolled users, and more than 63,000 swipes during unstaffed hours from September 2023 to August 2026. It has already cut 3.69 million dollars and has a levy proposal on the ballot. Extended access is not 24-hour access. Many libraries in the Daily Yonder survey shut the unstaffed door by 8 p.m. Wyoming's posted extended window, from the May launch coverage, runs from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Key Facts
- Daily Yonder, 13 October 2026; Reasons to be Cheerful, 15 October 2026
- Wyoming, Minnesota, branch of East Central Regional Library
- 55 registered users, more than 800 visits this year, use up 66 percent since April
- Age 18 and over, in-person signup, cameras
- Setup about 70,000 dollars; software about 12,000 dollars a year
- Only one branch in the system; staffed hours cut in three other counties
- Director: Carla Lydon
- Sources: The Daily Yonder, Reasons to be Cheerful, East Central Regional Library
Why This Matters
A public room that answers to a bus schedule is a policy, not a vibe. The number is small enough to trust. The funding cut in the same system is why it does not become a feature about libraries in general.
What We Don't Know Yet
Whether the board will ever pay for a second door. Whether unstaffed hours change circulation, not just footfall. Timberland's levy vote is unresolved. Eight hundred visits are not eight hundred people.