3/14/2023 0 Comments I love my library coloring page![]() One library was installed on Stowe Street in front of what was then Thatcher Brook Primary School (renamed in 2021 to Brookside). “We even had kids whose job was to go out into the community to scout locations.” “We had builders, painters, and designers,” said Barrett. Teacher Colleen Barrett explained that these free little library installations were her team’s community service project. In 2017, students from Crossett Brook Middle School constructed Waterbury’s first two little lending libraries.The sixth graders of the Dream Team were behind this project. If we missed any, please let us know in the story comments or send an email to Students start on Stowe, Randall streets “If folks want withdrawn library books for the little libraries, we’d be happy to provide some,” she said.Īfter undertaking a very informal survey, Waterbury Roundabout has compiled stories about eight little libraries around town, their builders or caretakers. The effort to put books around town is appreciated, however, and Muse offered that used books from the public library are available to helo stock the neighborhood collections. “They are very much a grassroots initiative!” said library Director Rachel Muse. Last December, a local 7-year-old was recognized in Revitalizing Waterbury’s holiday Acts of Kindness effort for her role as Waterbury’s “Book Santa" who regularly checks on the little libraries to help organize them and stock them with reading materials for other kids to enjoy.Ĭontrary to what some might think, the Waterbury Public Library is not involved with the tiny neighborhood libraries. Readers of all ages benefit from these book-sharing boxes, thanks to those who build and manage them.Īnd not everyone who looks after the libraries built them. Since then at least six more have been added around town. Local little libraries got their start several years ago with a project at Crossett Brook Middle School that put up the first two. (Waterbury, for example, only has three entries on the map.) It relies on little library enthusiasts to register their libraries, so it’s hardly complete. Its website,, continues to log new entries showing little library locations. Today the organization advocates and promotes the installation of these book-sharing boxes across the nation and beyond. By 2020, it had tracked more than 100,000 registered Little Free Libraries worldwide. Its website grew to include an interactive map where people can add information on little libraries. ![]() By 2012, there were 4,000 libraries in use around the country and Little Free Library officially became a national nonprofit organization. They were inspired by gift-sharing networks like “take a book, leave a book” collections in coffee shops and other public spaces. ![]() Others soon wanted libraries, and Bol teamed up with Rick Brooks from the University of Wisconsin-Madison to build, number, and give away the bookhouses using the name Little Free Library. In 2009, the late Todd Bol from Hudson, Wisconsin, created the first tiny library for his own front yard as a tribute to his mother, a schoolteacher who loved to read. Trading is optional as some may just want to take and enjoy one of the novels, children’s books and more found packed onto the shelves. These tiny, all-weather libraries are built for neighborhood book exchanges where community members can take or leave a book. They’re Waterbury’s little lending libraries and during the pandemic especially, Waterbury residents spending more time at home came to appreciate and even add to their ranks around town. They’re colorful and quirky and spread out in multiple Waterbury neighborhoods.Īnd when you ask around, no one seems to know about all of them.īut everyone knows of at least one of them. Update: This story was updated to correct when the Little Free Library nonprofit organization was formed. Aug| By Abbie Kopelowitz | Community News Service
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |