Little Free Library encourages reading
By Heather Ruenz
SLN staff
A Little Free Library outside the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Elkhorn has been getting a lot of business, so to speak, since it was installed a few months ago.
“When it was put up in early May, people – a lot of them were at the church for our salad luncheon – were stopping by and asking about it. They loved the idea,” Barb Townsend, the local LFL steward, said.
She said the Southern Lakes Reading Council, mostly comprised of educators in Walworth County, applied for funding for the LFLs with the Wisconsin Reading Association. The Council is responsible for keeping it stocked; the church a place for it to go.
“Initially, they were planned for state parks but that fell through. We put one in outside of 9 Lives Boutique in Lake Geneva a couple years ago, but then I found out the Board of Stewards and Missions at the church wanted one, so we put the second one here,” Townsend said.
The LFLs can be altered to fit in with its surroundings: the one by the church was made to look like a small church, complete with a steeple and a cross.
The Reading Council also applies for a $200 matching grant as a way to get even more books.
“We go to the scholastic warehouse book sale and get a lot of books there, have picked up books at rummage sales, and we have people that donate them,” according to Townsend.
She said the council also gives books to food pantries throughout the county.
“The goal is to get books into the hands of kids and families that utilize the pantries are told they can choose books. We try to include books for a wide range of ages as well as fiction and nonfiction. The kids usually keep the books they choose at the pantry, which is great,” she said.
Though the premise of the LFL program is ‘take a book, leave a book,’ Townsend said people should not be discouraged from taking a book if they don’t have one to donate in its place.
“And people that do have books to donate are welcome to do so. If there’s not enough room in the library, they can bring them into the church and someone will make sure they get to me. The library by the church recently had a visit from the book fairy. I stopped to check it after it rained and saw numerous books in there,” she said.
LFLs can be geared toward specific groups, such as kids or adults, but Townsend said the local ones are for people of any ages.
“We’ll take anything but we do monitor what comes in to make sure it’s nothing objectionable. We ask for them to be in good, gently used, readable condition,” she said.
On the Little Free Library registration site, the write-ups about the Southern Lakes Reading Council’s two libraries offer quotes about reading and some history about the LFL.
No. 2551 Elkhorn states:
“Books give a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.”
“That quote from Plato reminds us that books are very important. For that reason, Southern Lakes Reading Council thought it was important enough to provide books in this LFL which has been sponsored by our affiliate, Wisconsin State Reading Association.
“We would like to thank First Congregational UCC for allowing us this beautiful setting at which it can be found. Read on, Wisconsin,” it states.
No. 2514 Lake Geneva LFL’s write-up states:
“Groucho Marx once said this: “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.”
“We (Southern Lakes Reading Council) felt “9 Lives Boutique” was a great place to house this LFL since “9 Lives” donates proceeds to the local animal shelter.
“Wisconsin State Reading Association sponsors this LFL for Southern Lakes Reading Council. We urge you to stop in at “9 Lives” to support Lakeland Animal Shelter but make sure you visit our LFL, too,” it states.
The Little Free Library outside the UCC in Elkhorn is at 76 S. Wisconsin St. There is a second registered LFL in Elkhorn at 119 S. Washington St.
For more information about the Little Free Library program, visit littlefreelibrary.org.
