One final competitor stands between Williamsburg Regional Library and the title of best public library in the nation. WRL announced Sunday it advanced to the championship round of the Engaging Local Government Leaders contest for the nation’s best library, which will walk away with the organization’s Leslie B. Knope Award. It is competing against the public library of Pueblo, Colorado.
Engaging Local Government Leaders, a national association that focuses on supporting individuals working within local government, created the competition as a fun way to engage communities and draw attention to public libraries. The Knope Award serves as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the protagonist of “Parks and Recreation,” a television sitcom about local government employees and their misadventures.
The competition relied on library users submitting their institution of choice for the contest, and weekly polls have narrowed down the field from a pool of more than 100 libraries in an NCAA-style tournament. WRL previously defeated libraries in places such as Indiana, Texas and Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
WRL supporters can vote online at bit.ly/2FxDwRg. They can also contribute to the vote total by tweeting a selfie outside the library accompanied by #ELGLKnope. Voting ends Friday.
