Karns City girl shares love of reading, partners to open Little Free Library
PETROLIA — Briar Brothers, a second-grade student at Chicora Elementary School who aspires to read 100 books during summer break, won’t have to travel as far to get a new book for her quest.
She and Cathy Covington, of Petrolia, recently founded a new “Little Free Library” near 237 Haysville Road in Fairview Township.
The remote library has already been stocked with dozens of books that Brothers can take out and put back at any time.
Briar, who just completed first grade, already saw some books inside that she is looking forward to reading.
“The (dog) books are probably my favorite,” she said.
Briar’s reading goal for the summer inspired Covington to help charter the little library, which she started researching in December. She said in addition to helping Briar fulfill her reading target, Covington also wanted to make a positive impact on her small community.
“This way, kids can read something good, instead of hateful messages,” Covington said. “We just wanted to do something that spreads kindness.”
Installing the Little Free Library box was only one piece of the project. Covington and her family also carved out a green space on the roadside, complete with a wooden bench and flower planters with a red-and-yellow color palette to make readers feel comfortable when visiting or maybe even sitting to read near the box.
The library opened earlier this month, and has received a positive response so far, from both adults and children, according to Covington.
“We do have a couple visitors a day,” Covington said. “The idea is, you give a book, you take a book. It’ll be interesting to see where the books end up.”
The Little Free Library organization is a national nonprofit that promotes literacy and the sharing of books. Covington said she and Briar put books of their own into the library box and got many others from donations. Covington said she hopes to continue supporting the little library with new books and themes.
“Every month, we’ll have a different theme,” Covington said. “We’ll probably do some fundraisers throughout the year to raise money.”
For more information on the library, visit littlefreelibrary.org, where a map of all of the chartered library boxes can be found. The Petrolia Little Free Library is Charter #140399.
