Last spring, after a classroom discussion on the importance of reading, East High senior Chantel Bade mentioned that she’d like to keep a supply of books at the trailer court her dad manages. That thoughtful idea blossomed into a school-wide effort to build and stock little free libraries in low-income neighborhoods in Lincoln.
Equally as important as the libraries themselves? Getting to know the neighbors in those areas.
Since August, over 300 East students and staff have embraced the project, which currently is focused on the Everett neighborhood and its elementary school, located 5 miles from East High. These high schoolers have volunteered for Halloween handouts, book fairs and a culture night at Everett, each time getting to know the young students and their neighborhood a little better. They’ve also tele-conferenced with all of the Everett 5th graders, swapping questions about each others’ lives. East students also are building the structures, decorating them to reflect Everett’s rich cultural diversity, creating bilingual brochures to promote the project, making culturally-reflective foods to share at Everett events and researching book titles to purchase for the Little Free Libraries.
And, along the way–even before the first books have arrived–these high schoolers have found themselves falling in love with Everett Elementary School, its awesome students and the amazing power of reading, which opens up all kinds of worlds and connections.
A resident of the Everett neighborhood who happens to live just across the street from the school said she’d love to have a Little Free Library in her yard! Suddenly, this awesome project has a wonderful end piece that makes it even better!
-Jane Holt
School Librarian and Department Chair
Lincoln East High School