Have you seen them? They are
sprouting up around Shaker
like daffodils in the spring.
What are they? Little
Free Libraries (LFL). They
are wooden boxes decorated
and personalized in every
imaginable way, perched atop
poles, and packed with books
that are free for the taking.
The goal is as simple
as the structure: It’s about
nurturing a love of books and
creating community. The idea
is to bring neighbors together
around a love of reading and
books that are borrowed,
returned, and replenished by
people you know, and ones you
might meet hanging around
the library.
The idea has caught on
and the impact has been larger
than ever imagined. Shaker’s
little libraries are part of a
movement that started in
2010 in Wisconsin and is now
spreading across the globe.
There are an estimated 15,000
libraries worldwide, a count
that is growing daily.
One of the first Little Free Libraries
in Shaker sprang up at Onaway School last
year to honor Katie Cunion, a treasured
classroom aid and Shaker parent who lost
her battle with cancer in 2013. The whimsical
purple library stands as a memorial to her
optimism, and her love of learning, books,
and children. The creation of the library was
a community effort: designed, built, and
hand painted by Onaway parents, helped
along and enhanced by teachers and the
principal, and treasured and cared for daily
by neighborhood residents.
Since then, others have been planted or
will sprout soon throughout Shaker Heights.
A Gridley Park library was dedicated in June
A Novel Idea
Comes to Shaker
BY JULIE MCGOVERN VOYZEY
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CAROLINE HELLER
Sussex
Community
Garden:
Dedicated Sept. 21
28 SHAKERONLINE.COM | FALL 2014
thanks to the efforts of former resident
Susan Klarreich, members of the Lomond
Association, and others involved in the
larger LFL movement. Todd Bol, founder
of the LFL, came to town to speak at the
dedication. Another fanciful free library
can be found outside St. Dominic School
on Norwood Road. You can’t miss the mini
replica of the church, brimming with books
for all to enjoy.
The site for the City’s newest LFL is
just down the street in the grassy triangle at
Lomond and Norwood, known as the Sussex
Community Garden. Sussex resident Shirley
McCormack first heard about the libraries
from a friend in California, so she pitched
the idea to her neighbors through the online
group Nextdoor. Immediately,
about a dozen people expressed
interest in helping with the
project. With financial support
from the Sussex Association and
several residents, the project
quickly moved forward.
McCormack was particularly
motivated by the library’s
potential to bring people together.
“In our neighborhood there is a
disconnect between young and
old, homeowners and apartment
owners. We just thought this was
a good way to build community, to
draw people in from all different
demographics to get to know each
other,” says McCormack.
The spirit of community
at the core of LFL’s mission is
personified by Dan Yount, owner
of Van Aken Hardware, who
quickly volunteered to build the
structure based on a design the
Sussex group chose. Says Yount,
“The free library is such a great
idea and building it was a perfect
fit for us. We love anything that
has to do with kids and books.
My wife and I give back to the
community we live in and we’ve
always taught our boys to do the same, to
remember all that we have. The Little Free
Library was a great way for us to do that in
Shaker.”
This experience and understanding
of the impact a free library could have on
kids got Yount thinking about putting a
free library in a local food pantry in the
community where he lives. And so the
movement grows….
All of the Little Libraries around town
thrive with the donation of books for all ages
and reading levels. If you have books that you
would like to share, consider dropping them
off at one of the Little Free Libraries. For
more information about the worldwide LFL
movement, visit littlefreelibrary.org. SL