Little Free Library caters to adults and children
Beside one another, a palm-sized “Jane Austen: Her Complete Novels in One Sitting” and “1001 Things Every Teen Should Know Before They Leave Home” sit stacked neatly in Homewood Central Park’s recently renovated Little Free Library. A “Hey Arnold” paperback also is stuffed inside, along with several other children’s books. On the other side of the little library, opened through a separate glass door, a copy of “Introduction to the United States Government,” a Spanish-English dictionary and Mindy Kaling’s “Why Not Me?” wait to be read.
Homewood’s little free libraries have a little something for everyone.
About six months ago, locally owned Twin Construction put three Little Free Libraries in Central Park, Patriot Park and by the Homewood soccer fields. Only about a month ago, they replaced them with similar, sturdier containers built custom to their logo. Each are registered with the Little Free Library company, which is a recently popular nonprofit company that promotes literacy in communities.
“Homewood is such a community where people are out and about so much, it needed some of these,” said Jessica Cassity, office administration assistant for Twin Construction.
The libraries are meant to survive the wear and tear of weather, children and the constant traffic of book lovers. Since the beginning, Cassity has seen the books circulate, much to the delight of her reader-heavy staff. Even though they’re a construction company, she said engaging to make an impact in the community is also important to them.
The libraries don’t aim for a specific age group, but Cassity said they always try to keep several books for children and teenagers in them so there’s something for the younger crowd that would likely be at the parks. The Twin Construction staff stocks them with books when needed, checks up on the libraries every week or two and also monitors that the books inside are appropriate.
This way, local children, teenagers and park visitors are able to roam the parks with their noses in a book for as long as they want.
Cassity said she encourages any community members who want to take part in donating to the libraries to simply visit one and stock it with some books, and of course, take one that interests them. If they are full, she said locals are welcome to drop them off at the Twin Construction offices.