Library leads efforts to get more books into community
MONROE — It doesn’t matter where people read, just that they read, said Lorna Rhyins, director of Edith Wheeler Memorial Library, 733 Monroe Turnpike.
She and other library staff are so committed to this philosophy that they’re sponsoring two efforts to get more books into the local community.
The first is the Little Free Library program, which posts two boxes — in the shape of miniature houses — filled with books at two spots in Wolfe Park. Residents can grab and keep a free book from one of the boxes, stationed near the pool and Great Hollow Lake.
The library also sponsors a shelf at Last Drop Coffee Shop at 435 Main St., where patrons can browse and check out books, just as they would at a library.
“It’s important to just get books out to the people,” Rhyins said. “It’s a way of encouraging people to read wherever they are, even if they can’t get to the library.”
She said both programs have proven to be popular. The Little Free Library at the park is in its third year, and relaunched for the spring roughly a month ago.
Rhyins said the boxes are stocked with books that have been donated to the library. She said within a few days of refilling the boxes, they’re typically empty again, so there seems to be a demand for the serves.
Indeed, Little Free Libraries are a trend that has been growing nationwide since 2009, when a Wisconsin man built one in his front yard. It’s caught on and, as of this year, there are 80,000 registered Little Free Libraries nationwide, according to the web site littlefreelibrary.org.
The shelf at Last Drop Coffee Shop — dubbed the “Book Nook” — is newer, having launched in January. That is stocked with actual library books, not donations, which have to be checked out with a library card and returned.
Rhyins said this whole notion of “books about town” is just another way to promote literary.
“We just want to encourage people to read,” she said.