By Greg Scharen
RED BANK – “Take one, leave one,” was the motto Tuesday, June 11, as Red Bank Charter School sixth-graders installed and filled a little library they made outside the United Methodist Communities at The Wesley in Red Bank.
The little library is a small book-borrowing place for the public, promoting literacy and a community bond. It is one of tens of thousands Little Free Libraries like it around the world. Inside the mailbox-like structure, a message reads:
“To the Red Bank Community: We made the little FREE library for passersby to have easy access to great literature. Please feel free to take a book to read and return it for someone else to enjoy. You can also donate a book. Made with love from the Red Bank Charter School students, Mr. Cohen, Mrs. Conni, Ms. Dayton and Ms. Good 2019.”
The “Book Nook” was named after a corner in each classroom at the Red Bank Charter School dedicated to reading and painted a similar light blue color as the outside of the school.
The idea of building a Little Free Library started two years ago. “We figured (many people) don’t have a book to call their own,” said RBCS teacher Jessica Dayton. “Having this opportunity allows everyone to be able to borrow a book.”
Adam Cohen, father of student Brook Cohen, was an integral part of building the mailbox-sized library. However, the students were the ones doing the work. From sanding the wood to drilling and screwing the walls together, the students were the ones really bringing the library to life, according to Dayton.
“Working together is what our school’s all about,” said Brenda Conni, the school’s STEM coordinator. “It’s not just about academics, it’s about character education and service learning so they realize they’re doing something for their community. It’s just been wonderful.”
Red Bank Charter School and the United Methodist Communities at The Wesley have been community partners for many years. The residents and children both really “love one another,” according to Gertrude Kehleay, the housing administrator at the United Methodist Communities at The Wesley. When Melba Blessing, a resident at The Wesley, arrived to see the new library, many of the students ran to her for hugs and laughs.
Little Free Libraries, now a worldwide nonprofit organization, began in 2009 when Todd Bol of Hudson, Wisconsin, along with Rick Brooks, created a model schoolhouse and filled it with books in honor of his mother, a teacher. A decade later, there are more than 80,000 registered libraries in more than 90 countries worldwide.
There are 16 little libraries within 10 miles of The Two River Times’ Red Bank office.
The Book Nook benefits not only the children of the Red Bank Charter School and the residents at the United Methodist Communities at The Wesley, but the entire community of Red Bank.
