If you’ve been to a park in Habersham, stopped by a city hall or walked through one of Habersham’s charming downtowns, you’ve probably seen a Little Free Library. These birdhouse-like fixtures are more than landmarks in Habersham’s scenery, they have a mission: to make sure books are in homes.
The take-a-book-leave-a-book library encourages readers to enjoy a book they might not have otherwise had access to, and either return it when they’re done or replace it with a book they hope others might enjoy. They’re taken care of by the Habersham County Volunteers for Literacy, a non-profit organization, dedicated to improving literacy in Habersham.
The Little Free Library (LFL) program was started by former Volunteers for Literacy (VFL) Board Member Helen O’Brien in 2013, bringing LFLs to the Demorest Springs Park and Demorest Post Office. Almost a decade later, the libraries have grown to a grand total of 15 certified LFLs throughout the county, with one new library awaiting certification and one in the process of being built.
Bringing books home
You can find a Little Free Library in every city park in the county, and the VFL is working to bring LFLs to every school in the county, too. Part of the reason for those locations is to make sure children have access to books, the other is to make sure parents have books to read for their children.
The VFL places an emphasis on literacy for children, offering programs both in and out of Habersham’s schools to encourage reading in children. The Little Free Libraries go above and beyond those programs, though, offering children throughout the county 24/7/365 access to a selection of children’s books that get replenished each month.
“We are very pleased with how the books are being used,” VFL Executive Director Phylecia Wilson says. “We’d go and check them [the libraries] and half of them will be gone, or sometimes all of them will be gone, and you have to put in all new books, so people are definitely using them. And if they’re using them, that means they’re reading, and it means that parents are reading to their children.”
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VFL Vice-President Kathie Nee says most of the books that leave the LFLs are children’s books, and she agrees with Wilson: that’s a good thing.
“I think it was frustrating to some that the [children’s] books disappear and they don’t come back, and I keep saying to them, ‘But that’s what we wanted them to do, we want them to be in the homes,'” Nee says. “If these children’s books, or whatever, are disappearing and they don’t come back, then they’re where they need to be. They are in homes where children need those books or children are excited to have those books.”
Literacy for everyone
The VFL says that the importance of literacy isn’t just for children, it’s important for everyone. That’s why their Little Free Libraries contain books for children and adults, and why their most recent Little Free Library installation is at the Habersham County Senior Center.
This LFL is a “little” different from the others, instead of looking like the other LFLs around Habersham County, this is a repurposed changing table inside the senior center that will help seniors access the available books with ease.
“We didn’t want to use the outside ones just because it was a little bit harder for seniors to access,” Nee says. With this library, repurposed by VFL Volunteer and LFL Steward Michael Buelow, the books will be easier to see and grab.
“I really do have no doubt that those seniors will self-sustain that Little Free Library,” Nee says. “It’ll be interesting to see what the Little Free Library Organization does with our concept.”
The senior center LFL will also have a selection of children’s books for grandparents to borrow and read to their grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren.
Nee says that she hopes the LFLs show her community that not everyone in Habersham has access to books like others do, and that everyone in the Habersham community deserves the opportunity to expand their minds through the gift of books.
“I’m hoping they can take away from the understanding that not all homes in our community are literacy-rich, not all homes are filled with books,” Nee says. “They can take away with the idea of giving to others in the form of literacy, and hoping that children in less affluent areas can have access, can have constant access, to books that they can read.”
