Little Free Library

Something exciting happened this week. We got our very own Little Free Library (LFL). It’s stationed just outside our gates, next to the road, easily accessible to children in our community and any kids glamping on our property.

We’re always looking for ways to better connect with the people in Navarro County, so when Rachel Gillespie from Presbyterian Children’s Homes and Services reached out to see if we were interested in hosting one of the LFLs, we jumped at the chance.

I’m excited to see how our guests, as well as kids in our rural area, use the service. As Rachel explained to me, LFLs can contain anything from preschoolers’ board books to young adult fiction. As a grandmother, I’m looking forward to our granddaughters Mia and Sofie choosing books and leaving others in exchange.

That’s one of the things I especially love about LFLs. The idea is that you take a book and leave a book. Not just any book - mind you. School textbooks, dictionaries and other reference books are better donated to one of our local charities. What we really want to see are books that inspire and engage young readers. If some of those books are about farm animals and nature, then all the better!

According to the LFL website, “Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization based in St. Paul, Minnesota. Our mission is to be a catalyst for building community, inspiring readers, and expanding book access for all through a global network of volunteer-led Little Free Libraries. Our vision is a Little Free Library in every community and a book for every reader. We believe all people are empowered when the opportunity to discover a personally relevant book to read is not limited by time, space, or privilege.”

Purdon Groves is joining other nearby rural areas like Retreat and Frost, as well as in-town LFLs at The Children’s Shop and the Corsicana YMCA. It’s one more avenue for children to get a book. For kids that can’t get enough, the Corsicana Public Library is an amazing place for children (and adults) to choose their favorite books and participate in free programming. I’m just grateful we get to help provide one more place where kids can get books.

A few weeks ago I wrote about my favorite childhood book, and how the adventure I found in those pages helped to instill in me a desire to read and be open to my own adventures. If just one child gets the same out of one of the books at the entrance to our property, I’ll count this as a huge win.

This piece first appeared in Sherry’s column, Finding Myself in a Small Town, in the November 5, 2022 edition of the Corsicana Daily Sun.