A new chapter for CAS Community embraces Little Free Libraries as installation begins
Luc Belcastro, Jareth Zavola and Dalton Rogers, carpentry students at Western Area Career and Technical Center, load Little Free Libraries they constructed into Community Action Southwest vans. WACTC students built 25 libraries, with seniors in the afternoon class and instructor Greg Neish taking the lead.
Rich Pastella, data base administrator for Community Action Southwest, helps load Little Free Libraries into vans at WACTC.
Western Area Career and Technology Center students, from left, Julian Kasiuch, Hunter Krugh and Hunter Hickle wait to load into vans some of the structures their class constructed for Community Action Southwest’s Little Free Libraries program.
Carpentry students Eli-Jiah Harps and Amanda Shultz show their work to Treena Passalacqua, vice president for human resources at Community Action Southwest.
The morning carpentry class at Western Area Career and Technology Center meets with Treena Passalacqua, vice president for human resources at Community Action Southwest, before loading Little Free Libraries they built into vans.
The literacy awareness project that Community Action Southwest launched in late October has been embraced with enthusiasm by residents and businesses throughout the area.
CAS recently picked up 25 “Little Free Libraries” that were made by carpentry students at Western Area Career and Technology Center in Houston, and Prime 1 Builders in Morgan donated five more that its employees built. An additional six were built and donated by individuals, bringing to 36 the total number of Little Free Libraries that CAS has started to install in Washington and Greene counties.
“Our goal was to get 30 of them done in the first year,” said Darlene J. Bigler, CEO of Community Action Southwest. “They are all constructed, and many are sponsored. We’re just now are beginning to get them all installed.”
And the installation is being done courtesy of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services. Jean Watson of Howard Hanna said the project is a good fit for the real estate company.
“We look for things to give back to the community,” said Watson, noting that Howard Hanna also has worked with Habitat for Humanity. “This was different and is more involved with the children. It’s a little bit of a different purpose, but it will benefit the community a little more.
“To us, the libraries looked like houses. It was a natural for us. It fit our business and our industry.”
CAS believes that by placing Little Free Libraries near early childhood education centers, public housing communities and lower-income neighborhoods, it will give youngsters a jumpstart on a lifelong journey of learning and success.
Users will be encouraged to borrow and donate books for adults and children – new or used – and participate in the free community book exchange. The libraries will be maintained by volunteers throughout the year to keep them well-stocked and fresh.
Three libraries have been installed so far. They are at the Plaza Building on West Beau Street in Washington, where Community Action is located; Try-Again Homes on Jefferson Avenue in Washington; and Noah’s Ark Preschool in McMurray. Only the libraries at the Plaza Building and Noah’s Ark are operational right now.
Bigler said CAS has 31 sites where it would like to install the libraries, and has received permission for them to be installed at the Lincoln Terrace Housing Authority, at the Washington Health System’s hospital and 84 Lumber, the inaugural corporate supporter and sponsor of six Little Free Libraries. As permission is granted, other libraries will be located at builidings that CAS leases for its Head Start centers and senior centers in Greene County that CAS operates.
“We want to spread them throughout Washington and Greene counties, especially in areas where children don’t have access to typical libraries,” Bigler said.
She added there are four Headstart classrooms in the Plaza Building, where teachers plan to do activities with the children and explain how the libraries work. Each child will receive a book to take home.
Each Little Free Library will be personalized with the sponsoring business’ logo or the name of individuals. In addition to 84 Lumber, sponsors so far include Jim and Tracy McDonald, Predictive Synergistic Systems of Pittsburgh, Friend Air Care, Liberty Insurance, Campbell Insurance Associates, Family Wealth Manangement Group, Mark IV, Terschel and Associates, Washington Health System and Reinhart Foods.
“The way this works is we are asking sponsors to sponsor a library for one year,” Bigler said, “and we will be returning to sponsors to sponsor subsequent years. We are still looking for other sponsors.”
Books to fill the libraries initially were provided by Friends of Citizens Library through its CitiBooks used books book store, and Bigler said CAS has partnerships with book companies that will provide good reads at good rates, too.
“We will go back and resupply as they get down,” she said. “The idea is that people who want to donate can.”
However, donations can only be accepted at the Little Free Libraries themselves, Bigler cautioned, because CAS cannot accommodate donations of books at its offices.
Each of the libraries also will be chartered by Little Free Libraries, the national organization that founded the program.
“On their website, they have all sorts of tips,” Bigler said. “We’ll be doing some interesting activities to get people interested and build the community around them. In the past year or two, it’s really become a phenomenon.”
For more information or to inquire about sponsorships regarding about Community Action Southwest’s Little Free Libraries program, visit the agency’s website, https://caswg.org, or call 724-225-9550.