A little bit of light reading
Community installs ‘Little Library’ built by Girl Scout on east side
What began as a book collection and reading hobby several years ago has now turned into a mission to provide Lodi students in the city’s underserved areas access to educational materials.
Last Saturday, nearly a dozen Lodi residents gathered at the Migrant Housing Center at 14320 E. Harney Lane to install a Little Free Library.
Built by Abby Stroud, a member of Girl Scout Troop 1895, the book nook was a project she wanted to take on in order to obtain her Bronze Award.
Stroud was not available to comment Wednesday.
The idea to build the Little Free Library was suggested by resident Maria Ditmore, founder of Park & Read, a free book sharing program that promotes children’s literacy and community engagement in underserved neighborhood parks.
Now in its sixth year, the Park & Read project started when Ditmore was an administrative assistant at the Lodi Public Library.
“I was collecting donations of used books, and before COVID started, I’d take them to a public park, particularly on the east side, where there are a lot of underserved children who have
limited access to the public library,” Ditmore said. “I’d settle down on a bench and wait around for kids to come by, then we’d read the books together and have discussions about them.”
As state and county guidelines discouraged public gatherings to slow the spread of COVID-19, Ditmore’s meetings at the park were hindered.
She remembered seeing several “Little Libraries” in front of homes around Lodi, and placed a book cart in her own driveway to offer reading materials to youngsters.
When the books began to pile up on the cart, as well as the driveway, she knew she needed another method to get them to children.
“My goal is always to work with a target audience, and that’s the underserved populations of the community,” Ditmore said. “The migrant community is something that’s near and dear to my heart. I come from a family of migrant workers, and I wanted to help those in a community I was familiar with.”
She turned to Facebook, suggesting the idea of building another Little Free Library somewhere in the city where children do not have immediate access to books, asking the community for assistance.
Stroud saw the post and offered to build it for her Bronze Award. Kat Ellis, a Lodi Unified School District teacher, said she would contact the Migrant Housing Center to see if the library would be welcomed. She also helped oversee book selection.
Paint and painting supplies were donated by Changing Faces Theater Company, and a mural was painted on the walls of the library by Sabrina Willis-Bartram.
“We have so many neighborhoods here in Lodi that have little libraries, but they tend to be in more affluent areas, which isn’t a bad thing, because the more people you get interested in reading, the better,” Willis-Bartram said. “But there are neighborhoods where kids don’t have transportation to the library or don’t have access to a library, and this will bring the library to them.”
Willis painted portraits of civil rights icons Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez on the library, and said she chose the pair as the perfect representation of Hispanic and migrant culture, education and determination.
Ditmore said her group readings at the park were very popular, and she believes the Little Free Library installed at the Migrant Housing Center will attract several youngsters. She’s hoping to build more libraries on the east side of town.
She said she plans to swap out books once a month to give youngsters more reading choices and variety. The books will focus on their cultural heritage and issues affecting them.
“I do think these will be popular,” Ditmore said. “Because I hear there are a lot of students who don’t have access to libraries or have reading materials as readily available to them as kids who don’t live on the east side of town. And with kids going back to school, at least part-time, I’m hoping kids go through these books rather quickly.”
Ditmore encourages residents who want to place a Little Free Library on their property, or know someone who does, to contact her through the Park & Read Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Parkandread, and on Instagram @parkandreadlodi.