With the goal of promoting literacy and providing books for everyone who wants to read, Warren County students and the Rotary Club are combining to make books available to everyone in Warren County.
The idea, according to student leaders Allie Golden and Katie Beth Blankenship, is the Little Free Library. It is an idea that has caught on elsewhere and the students believe it will be popular here. They presented the idea before the Warren County School Board and received an overwhelming endorsement to go ahead with their mission.
According to Rotary sponsor Jeff McKinley, the program will involve providing book depositories at the local schools. The depositories look similar to a large birdhouse and have glass doors to wooden overhangs to keep the books dry and secure from the elements since they will be located outside.
“The idea is to have them available at all times,” McKinley said, noting the depositories and being built and will be installed in the near future. “We plan to have them at eight Warren County schools.”
The request, which will be posted on the depositories is to “take a book and leave a book.” The hope is the easy availability to the public will encourage reading.
“These will all be mounted outside so people can get a book whenever they want,” McKinley noted.
The Little Free Library will be accepting donations of books but has already been jump-started thanks to a Coffee County school, which donated 1,200 books.
The whereabouts of the depositories will be posted on the Internet complete with a map showing directions to their locations.