Take a walk through West Toledo’s Old Orchard and you might stumble into a mysterious spy, a dragon, summer love, or a story of space exploration— a trip made possible by books, available to passersby, and provided by residents.
Tiny house-shaped boxes, perched on street corners or in friendly yards, the Little Free Libraries have offered a bounty of books since 2014, when residents Heather Meyer and Brooke Padgett brought the trend to the neighborhood.
“Take a book, leave a book”
Meyer and Padgett, an elementary special education teacher, were drawn to the Little Free Libraries concept by their shared passion for early childhood literacy. The tiny libraries could offer free books to their neighbors, circulating ideas, conversation and stories.
“In the summer of 2014 we built them and put them up,” says Meyer. “We wanted to add to our incredible sense of community in Old Orchard.” Currently, Old Orchard has six Little Free Libraries.
“Little Free Libraries give folks a reason to connect,” explains Meyer. “It reinforces the concept of sharing, with no strings attached. They show my young daughter that books are so important to us that we built a funky little house for them and perched that house in our front yard.”
Turning a page
Since the beginning, both Padgett and Meyer have wanted to foster connections within their community, and the two moms agree the neighborhood response has been overwhelmingly positive.
“Our community loves it,” says Padgett. “It makes me so happy when I look out and see people sitting on [the] bench in our front yard, with or without kids, taking a break to read. We even added a little fairy garden and a chalkboard for visitors to sign when they visit.”
Meyer has been surprised by the project’s stamina, saying, “I worried a bit that the concept would lose its luster, but it hasn’t— it’s encouraged a handful of other Free Libraries to pop up in Old Orchard. You will see folks walking with backpacks on library tours from time to time.”
Since Little Free Libraries rely on exchange, occasionally unsavory titles pop up— so a little monitoring and maintenance is required, but Padgett doesn’t seem to mind.
“We have some jokester neighbors,” says Padgett, laughing. “They enjoy leaving interesting reading material, so I check often so that there’s nothing too off-the-wall for kids to find!”
Currently, Meyer’s library includes Socks by Beverly Cleary and Midnight in Peking by Paul French. Padgett’s library has Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain and Junie B. Jones by Beverly Cleary, as well as several children’s chapter books and toddler readings.
