First Little Free Library officially installed at Robe-Ann Park

Friday, August 2, 2013
Sammie McCoy was one of the first visitors to the Little Free Library, which is located at the enterance of Robe-Ann Park in Greencastle.

The Putnam County Public Library recently celebrated the installation of its very first Little Free Library, which is located at the entrance of Robe-Ann Park.

The Little Free Library, an idea sparked by Putnam County Library Board Vice President Diana LaViolette, is a miniature library that provides books for all ages. It follows the take a book leave a book policy.

The Little Free Library itself is a small weatherproof box, which houses more than a dozen titles for the community to utilize complete with a plaque that says 'take a book, leave a book.'

"It's done all over the United States," explained LaViolette. "It's apparently meant a lot to various people to be able to just pick a book and maybe find a book to return."

After reading an article, which was published in American Profile, LaViolette brought the idea to the board. After little discussion the board was excited about the idea and was ready to move forward with it. LaViolette then went to her husband John to have him build the first one.

"People can open it up easily and find a book," LaViolette said. "It can be an adult book. It can be children's books. They have all kinds of choices."

The mission of the Little Free Library is to promote literacy by building free book exchanges, which make it easy for those to stop and just grab a book.

"It is something that we hope encourages more people to read," explained LaViolette. "It's important to us that the children and the people in the community have access to books and can enjoy such a wonderful thing."

Present for the launch of Putnam County Public Library's first Little Free Library are (from left) Lisa McCoy, Wes Wilson, Diana LaViolette, Maddie McCoy, Sammie McCoy, Hadley McCoy, Nancy Zennie, David Taylor, Tona Gardner and Alan Zerkel.

Now that the first one is officially built and installed for everyone to enjoy, the board is also looking for help to create other ones, which could be placed anywhere throughout Putnam County.

The location for the Little Free Library was chosen due to residents being able to easily access it by walking or driving, as well as park personnel being able to keep an eye on it.

"The board members and the people who are trying to make this a reality will always make sure there are books in there. If people would like to donate books to it they certainly can," LaViolette said. "We are hoping that other people will be willing to contribute other Little Free Libraries."

Board members are also going to look in to approaching area schools in hopes of incorporating building a Little Free Library into one of the classes.

For more information on the Little Free Library or to build one of your own for the community contact Lisa Barker at the Circulation Desk at 653-2755 ex. 112.

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  • This is a great idea. Hopefully it will catch on so that other communities will follow. Thank you for the idea.

    -- Posted by interestedperson#1 on Fri, Aug 2, 2013, at 3:16 PM
  • This is wonderful!! A big thank you to all who made it happen.

    -- Posted by gingerbill on Wed, Aug 7, 2013, at 5:52 AM
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