The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
LITTLE LIBRARY ON THE LAKE FINDS ITS HOME
A cool breeze burst through Lakeview Park as staff from Kodiak worked in the morning sun.
Community members stopped, and stared at the newly decorated cargo container that sat near the welcome sign in the park near the East beach entrance.
Mike Tocchi, owner of Pro Auto Wraps in Wadsworth, watched the team as they began to move the cargo container onto the beach. According
to Tocchi, the wrapping of the container took around 30 man hours and several people over the course of one weekend.
“I was born and raised in Lorain and I’m excited to see something so great come to Lorain,” he said.
“The space gives us a great chance for programming with the Metro Parks for bird watching, the habitat and things like that.”
— Nick Cronin, the outreach services manager for the library system
The Lorain Public Library and Lorain County Metro Parks partnered to introduce the new feature at Lakeview Park. The project consists of a 20foot long, 8-foot wide, and 9-foot tall “Little Library.”
It features a decorated interior and space for people to check out items.
For the past year and a half, Tocchi has been working with the Lorain Public Library System on various projects.
“When people think about wrapping they only think about cars. But we do lots of fun projects like this,” he said.
To make the wrapping, the process included a lot of measuring, and a few tweaks but Tocchi said the project was exciting.
“Stuff like this is the most fun. My hope is that everyone is going to be receptive,” he said.
As the Kodiak staff prepared the Little Library to move, people began asking questions about the project. According to Nick Cronin, the outreach services manager for the library system, the Little Library on the Lake is going to be big for Lorain.
“The effects are going to be entirely positive,” he said. “People are already wondering when we’re going to open and what’s going on. When we tell them it’s not a traditional library, they’re really intrigued.”
An opening date isn’t set yet, however, there’s a solid chance the library will be open by early next week. The schedule for the library is 10 a.m., to 2 p.m., Tuesdays to Sundays.
“We’re tentatively hoping we could do something this weekend but we’re hesitating to put a completely firm commitment on that,” Cronin said. “We have to put the equipment and shelving in.”
According to Cronin, a library card is needed to check out the activities. New library card memberships will be able to be activated on-site in the Little Library. With a new and innovative approach to connecting with the community, Cronin said he thinks the effectiveness of the library is going to be positive.
“We see the opportunity to have an impact on the way people use the beach,” he said. “It’ll be fun to use and healthy to use and allow the library to connect with people who might not be coming to our locations. We’re hoping to connect with a new audience.”
Next year, Cronin said he and his team intend to create new programming for the little library and the community.
“We’ll be able to do traditional story time, sign people up for our summer reading game, and the possibilities are endless,” he said. “The space gives us a great chance for programming with the Metro Parks for bird watching, the habitat and things like that.”