You may already know about little free libraries, the public bookcases where people are welcome to take a book or leave a book for anyone to enjoy. Now thanks to a local children’s learning centre, downtown Williams Lake is home to one made for and by children.
“It’s been really successful, it’s stuffed full of books already and it’s only been there for a week.”
This was the happy proclamation by Faren Lozier, one of the co-owners of Exploring the Puddle Early Learning Centre.
The centre has a focus on sustainability and a nature-based philosophy so when the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society posted a contest for Earth Week looking for ideas on projects to help the Earth or to avoid buying new, they wanted to participate.
A post on social media about a little library then inspired Lozier and her co-owner to build their own little free library to be able to recycle and reuse children’s books.
“We’d been going through our books and we had so many extra books to give away,” explained Lozier.
Through salvaging an old shelf, which the children painted, adding some crates and building a small roof, an outdoor little free library was born. The children then helped stock the library with books to start the little library off.
When the current fence they have is torn down, the plan is to add doors to the front of the library as well.
Once they posted the library on social media, Lozier said she saw lots of people both bringing and picking up books.
“(The kids) go out to check it and make sure that it’s standing up and that it looks neat,” said Lozier. “It’s been really fun.”
Read more: Exploring part of day care fun
ruth.lloyd@wltribune.com
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