Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Kiwanis, SSHS partner to provide book nooks to medical providers
SILOAM SPRINGS — The Siloam Springs Kiwanis Club has partnered with Siloam Springs High School agriculture students to place book nooks in local medical facilities.
The nooks are similar to Little Free Libraries where people pick up and leave books behind for people to read, but with two distinctions, Kiwanis Club Secretary Dolores Deuel said.
Little Free Libraries are placed in various locations, while book nooks are only in medical facilities. People who pick up a book are not expected to leave one behind, Deuel said. The Kiwanis Club will replace books as needed.
The first book nook was placed at Northwest Health Urgent Care, Deuel said.
Kiwanis members Billy Gumm and Kamaron Rackleff came up with the idea last spring, Deuel said.
“This was in addition or a response to books that the Kiwanis had provided to Northwest Children’s Hospital in Springdale,” Deuel said. “We figured we could bring the books closer to home and provide them for children who visit the hospital in Siloam Springs.”
The idea to place books at Children’s Hospital in Springdale was based on a similar idea from Pat Ockert, the wife of Roy Ockert, previous Missouri-Arkansas Kiwanis District governor, to place books at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, Deuel said.
Ockert credited his wife and said he just helped deliver the books. Ockert said he was proud of the project. Pat Ockert said she was pleased to learn about the Book Nooks.
“Initially, the plan was to collect books for Arkansas Children‘s Hospital in Little Rock,” Pat Ockert said. “But so many clubs participated that we were also able to donate to Arkansas Children’s Northwest in Springdale, the Arkansas Children’s Hospital clinic in Jonesboro and three children’s hospitals in Missouri.”
Pat Ockert said Siloam Springs was the first club to embrace her project with a generous donation. Those books were placed in Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Springdale, Pat Ockert said.
The Siloam Springs Kiwanis Club donated approximately $100 in books and took them to Children’s Hospital in Springdale last year, Deuel said.
The Kiwanis Club is working with Northwest Health to find other locations to place Book Nooks, Deuel said.
“Siloam Springs Regional Hospital and Northwest Health were honored and touched to receive the Book Nook, located inside Siloam Springs Medical Plaza’s lobby,” Aimee Morrell, marketing director for Northwest Health, said in a statement. “The Siloam Springs Schools’ Agriculture Department students did a beautiful job designing and building a special spot for our smallest patients and visitors. When children visit, they can take a moment to enjoy a book they can keep when they leave, courtesy of Siloam Springs Kiwanis Club, which keeps the nook restocked with books. Northwest Health is always willing to collaborate with our community to advance the betterment of the areas we serve.”
Books will be geared toward children, but there will be some for young adults, Deuel said.
High school students in the Agriculture Department built the Book Nooks, agriculture teacher Gabby McChristian.
In an email, McChristian said Gumm had contacted McChristian’s colleague Rodney Arthur, gave him some photos and a budget and then turned it over to the students.
“Students played a crucial role in the designing and creative piece to begin the project,” McChristian said.
Gumm approached Arthur last April with the idea and then at the beginning of the 2023-24 school year to solidify plans and begin the project, McChristian said.
Students began to plan and design the Book Nooks last August and finished around the first week of December, McChristian said.
One nook is made of wood and the other of metal, McChristian said. The nooks were taken to their new home Feb. 22.
“Working alongside members of our community is such a vital role in the world of education,” McChristian said. “This opportunity gave our students many life skills, including collaboration, professionalism, initiative and critical thinking.”