San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
LIBRARIES
in the region read at an elementary school level or not at all. About 60 percent of low-income students in San Diego don’t have books at home.
“The reality is there are vast disparities,” said Supervisor Nora Vargas, who represents cities and neighborhoods in southern parts of the county. “Many communities’ children don’t have access to age-appropriate books at home, which causes them to fall behind.”
Vargas brought the initiative to the board. She said it will address some disparities in disadvantaged communities by promoting and encouraging reading from home. The county plans to set aside $20,000 for the initiative.
The county’s library system would work with the San Diego Council on Literacy and other nonprofits and volunteer groups to install more little libraries.
The book-sharing boxes are a program of the Little Free Library, a national nonprofit that provides mini-library building materials and information to people all over the world. People can register the libraries with the organization for a onetime fee of $40 to $80.
All little libraries don’t have to register. There are dozens in San Diego that are not affiliated with it.
The registration fee can be an obstacle for some, as well as getting the materials to build the libraries and purchasing books to fill them, advocates say.
“I think a lot of folks, they forget how expensive books
are,” said Jose Cruz, CEO of the San Diego Council on Literacy. “You go into a regular store, you’re going to pay $12 to $15 for a book . ... For a low-income family, that’s a lot.”
In an effort to help families interested in operating little libraries, Cruz said the council will collect donated books for the libraries.
He said Little Libraries can increase children’s access to books in a “neighborly” way.
“Here are these residents in all these communities across America and beyond that are building their own libraries and exchanging books, reading them, trading them, and it’s just something that makes you feel good,” Cruz said.
It’s unclear how many little libraries are located in San Diego’s southern neighborhoods because many are not officially registered. Padilla said there are at least 10 little libraries within a 3mile radius of her home.
Neighbors in Logan
Heights and Valencia Park have been installing little libraries across those neighborhoods. A community council in Valencia Park has already helped install four
little libraries.
Padilla opened the little library in front of her home two years ago and has seen how successful they are.
“Putting them in areas of low-income, that’s going to make so many kids happy,” she said. “I wish we have little free libraries on every block.”
She keeps the libraries stocked with books in Spanish, Tagalog and other languages. She also recently opened a little library outside her home in Baja California.
“You see kids who are very low income and they ask you, ‘Are you sure they are free?’ and then you see their big smiles and sometimes they say, ‘I’ve never had a book,’ ” Padilla said.