VERO BEACH — In its most basic form, a Little Free Library is a container of books for both adults and children from which anyone may pick up a book or two and bring back another book to share. Begun in 2009 in Wisconsin, this program has become international in its scope with an estimated 15,000 Little Free Libraries around the globe.
Now there is one more, in south Vero Beach.
The Social Justice and the Religious Education committees of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach collaborated on a project to build and supply one Little Free Library box in a south Vero Beach community. A member of the committee recently installed the sturdy, bright red Little Free Library box at the Harvest Food & Outreach branch on Old Dixie south of Oslo Road.
Both the store manager, Jessica Grant, and the assistant manager, Tori Reese, heartily endorse the project. Grant has two daughters. “Working full time, I don’t have much extra time to get to the library, and my five-year-old loves for me to read to her.”
Volunteer Cy Rochon, who lives at Indian River Estates and whose hobby is woodworking, built the library with lumber purchased by the Social Justice Committee. Church member Jack Stiefel installed the box. Members of the congregation have pledged to donate novels and children’s books to keep the library filled.
The project was inspired by a newspaper article that Nancy Stiefel read in a Fort Wayne, Ind., newspaper. She took the idea to the committees last spring and kindled enthusiasm for the project. Stiefel feels that Harvest is a perfect location for the library.
“A person can shop for groceries and borrow a book on the same trip – food for both the body and the mind!” Stiefel said.
The Little Free Library mission is to promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide and to build a sense of community by sharing skills, creativity, and wisdom across generations. Read more about the program on the website, http://littlefreelibrary.org/