Sep 2, 2016 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – The “Little Free Library” is open for readers in downtown Waynesburg.

The colorful miniature wooden house titled “READ, WRITE and BLOOM” is offering a variety of book interests for adult and child readers.

The mini-library is near 108 E. High St. in a landscaped area next to the borough’s parking lot No. 4. It listed on the internet at www.littlefreelibrary.org under the membership charter number 39949.

Participants are encouraged to take a book, read and then either return it to the book house or keep it, all for free and without a library card.

Greene County Department of Recreation was able to fund the library through a donation by Carmichaels Crusaders, a group of Carmichaels Area School District teachers. Retired teacher and school bus driver, Debbie Bristor, helped raise the money through a business-learning tool by offering students a chance to purchase school stationary items off a cart.

“I know how vital reading is in a young child’s life, from reading math problems, traffic signs, science books, signs at amusement parks and advertisements at the mall,” Bristor said. “Reading books enables students to feel confident in themselves while laughing, crying, learning, being spooked and gathering information on topics.”

The mini-library serves as an addition to the Canary Library that was first introduced in 2014 as collaboration between the Department of Recreation and the Greene County Library System. Throughout the summer, carts containing library books for all ages are available at each of Greene County’s three pools.

“While the idea behind a free library is to take a book, leave a book; there is nothing wrong with a child taking a book to call their own and unable to give one back,” Greene County Library System Administrator Therese Barry said. “What matters is getting a book to the person in need.”

Jill Peth, the library system’s outreach coordinator, currently organizes and transports books to the department to be distributed to each of the remote libraries. Recently the Colonial Place near Rolling Meadows Road put two mini-library houses up, one each for adults and children. These were spear-headed by local retired teachers.

“The library has taken off tremendously,” Bristor said.

She takes books from these libraries to her school bus where she has a book nook inside so kids can read on their way home.

“The kids love them especially the joke books,” she said. “I’ll never stop contributing to this life-enhancing idea.”

“Little Free Libraries” began in Wisconsin in 2009, when a son built a model of a one-room schoolhouse as a tribute to his mother, a former school teacher who loved reading. Filled with books, he placed the model house on a post in his front yard. His neighbors and friends loved it, and the concept soon spread across the region and the country.

For more information on the Little Free Library, go to www.littlefreelibrary.org or call the Department of Recreation at 724-852-5323.