This paper reports on the qualitative findings of a three-year study of public libraries and social capital conducted in Ontario, Canada. The study sought to establish whether library use was related to levels of social capital. This paper focuses on the rural phase of the study. The researchers visited five rural libraries, all in the southwestern region of the province. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with library staff members and regular library users. The data suggest that while rural libraries have high potential to create social capital, the overlap of social networks in rural communities renders the library’s influence redundant. Moreover, many of the mechanisms that help libraries increase a sense of social cohesion and inclusion among users can also result in exclusion, even if unintentionally.