‘Little Free Libraries’ installed
The Rotary Club of Ukiah installed six “Little Free Libraries” Saturday in the City of Ukiah. After months of work and coordination, the structures were installed in or near city parks throughout Ukiah.
Little Free Libraries are a global phenomenon. The small book exchanges number 60,000 around the world in 80 countries. Now there are six new Little Free Libraries located at Nokomis Park, McGarvey Park, Oak Manor Park, While Little Free Libraries have been in the front yards of many Ukiah homes for years, the newly installed structures expand into different parts of the city.
“We wanted to expand the reach of the privately developed Little Free Libraries by working with the City of Ukiah to bring them within the vicinity of city parks,” Velasco said. “Now books will be within walking distance of many more Ukiah residents, which was one of the goals of this project.”
The Little Free Library concept is quite simple. Readers are able to take a book with them and return it at a later time or trade for another book all David Scollin joined Jahn and Velasco in the painting and assembly of the Little Free Libraries. Rotarians assembled and painted the structures over several weeks using the pieces and instructions put together by Jahn. For the installation of the structures, Rotarians Jon Ferguson, Ted Hester and Ramona Tate joined Jahn, Phelan and Velasco early on Saturday morning.
The first Little Free Library was installed at Vinewood Park and the last was at Oak Manor Park.
Rotary Club of Ukiah members recently met inperson for the first time in more than a year at Oak
Manor Park where they held a small picnic after the installation of the structure.
“Due to the (COVID-19) pandemic, our Club has been meeting exclusively via Zoom,” Velasco said. “But since many of our members have now received their COVID-19 vaccines and the county and state have loosened restrictions on public gatherings, a small group of Rotarians met to celebrate the completion of this project. It was great to see our members in person after a year of virtual meetings.”
The Rotary Club of Ukiah is currently meeting through Zoom every Tuesday at 12:15 p.m.