COVER

The Little Free library in Deerfield Towne Center is made from a decorative telephone call box.

PHOTO: LINDSAY WIELONSKI

eading is fundamental,,, countless teachers, cartoon

Rcharacters and public service announcements told children in the 1980s and 1990s. A good book or two is the key to a ful lling career, creative relaxation time and engaging conversation among friends, they said. Read, and all your dreams will come true, they said. But since then, the United States has gone through multiple recessions, there’s no time for relaxing due to the multiple jobs necessary to pay rent, and conversation frequently has been relegated to phone and laptop screens. Raising literacy rates – particularly during the last decade – became a focus for educators.

In May, the Akron Beacon Journal reported that about 39,000 children have failed Ohio’s required reading test since 2014. at’s even more pronounced when looking at urban vs. suburban statistics, with 80% of lower-income students not reading pro ciently in 2018 compared to just 48% of students in higher-income neighborhoods with more resources, according to education data researcher ink Impact.

Educators have said that part of the problem, especially during a child’s early years, is a lack of proximity to reading materials or to adults who read for both knowledge and enjoyment. A number of programs have tried to combat that, with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library among the most notable nationally. Alongside community partners, the country legend’s organization supplies registered children with one book per month through age ve (Parton visited Ohio Aug. 9 to celebrate Imagination Library e orts within the state). Programs for both adults and children also are available through local schools and public libraries.

“When we talk about early literacy, it’s not just reading. We’re talking about those foundational skills and knowledge that help a child get a really good start in kindergarten and therefore help them to continue to progress,” says Mary Kay Connolly, executive director of Read Ready Covington, a literacy initiative that encourages reading pro ciency for local children prior to entering Kindergarten. “No child should have to start school feeling like they’re not ready.”

But books are bringing readers together in new places, too. Little Free Library is one of the most recognizable, proli c programs that takes a community-based approach to putting reading materials directly into neighborhoods, especially in the “book deserts” where bookstores and tutoring centers typically don’t put down roots.

“People often talk about food deserts and the programs to help children have food on weekends and summer,” Connolly says. “Well, people don’t often talk about the book deserts that we have. Many children do not have home libraries, they may nd it di cult to get to the library because of transportation issues or limited time availability.”

Originally launched in Wisconsin, Little Free Library is the most notable organization behind the “take-a-book, share-a-book” movement that has taken hold in Cincinnati and around the world. According to LFL’s website, there are more than 125,000 of its registered book exchange cupboards across the globe, with 42 million tomes traded each year.

e tiny libraries often are erected in front of a house or at a neighborhood corner that sees frequent foot tra c. A “steward” is responsible for building the book stand (many people design their own, but LFL also sells building kits) and for paying about $35 for an optional metal LFL charter sign for the structure along with the privilege of being added to the o cial map of book exchanges at littlefreelibrary.org. Stewards can supply books themselves or call on neighbors and friends to drop o items.

Not all community book cupboards are part of the o cial Little Free Library program, and not all Little Free Library structures are on the organization’s map. Many structures also o er canned food, hygiene items, vinyl albums and CDs in addition to novels, how-to books, audiobooks and DVDs.

Read Ready Covington and its partners have more than doubled the number of Little Free Libraries in Covington, Connolly says.

And these small book structures are multiplying throughout Greater Cincinnati in every neighborhood, with many as varied in their appearance as they are in the books they contain. Below, check out some of CityBeat’s favorites from around town and learn about a few folks who are using them to build communities around books.

Neighborhood: Deer eld Township

Where to nd it: near Duck Donuts at Deer eld Towne Center, 5635 Deer eld Blvd. Special characteristics: Repurposed London-style red telephone booth

What’s inside at the moment:

Divergent, Milk and Honey, House Blood, Miracles From Heaven

YOU CAN’T MISS the big red callbox of books in Deer eld Towne Center.

Originally just a piece of decor at Deer eld Towne Center, the telephone booth underwent light and shelf installations and now acts as a mini-library, housing books for people of all ages.

In a partnership, Deer eld Towne Center and the Mason Public Library aim to promote literacy and book-access in the area. e Volunteer Friends for the Mason Public Library (VFML) donates books that keep the Little Free Library stocked. e organization also raises funds to support the Mason Public Library’s reading programs and “continued improvement of the library’s circulation and continued improvement of the facility,” according to the VFML website.

Danielle Reynolds, marketing manager at RPT Realty, which manages the shopping center, tells CityBeat that one of the main goals of the Little Free Library is to o er a self-sustaining bene t to the community. Book exchanges sometimes can focus on children’s items, but Reynolds says that her team makes it a priority to include books for other age groups, too.

“Our biggest thing is making sure that it has books in it for all ages. It’s just not kids’ books in there. We want everybody to be able to access it,” Reynolds says. e telephone-booth library sits in an open, centric place near a re pit. at way, Reynolds says, people can sit and enjoy live music and meals from the center’s restaurants while also browsing the Little Free Library’s book selection that day.

“It’s just positioned in a great location where the kids can, you know – if their parents are eating or if we have live music going on and the kids want to go grab a book, look through it, and they put the book right back and another kid can enjoy it,” Reynolds says.

Some people have even embraced putting more non-typical items in the bright red library. Reynolds says that an antique record player made an appearance there in the past. In another surprise moment, a Little Free Library steward from another state hid items in the Deer eld Towne Center Little Free Library and then used social media to urge their Ohio followers to look for the gifts.

Reynolds says that the center’s Little Free Library has had a positive response from the community and even has too many books at a time.

“Sometimes we get so much that we pile them up. We go out there and we straighten it and then we take the extra and then put them out when the library starts getting low again,” Reynolds says.

- Lindsay Wielonski

Alice Finkelstein’s Little Free Library in East Walnut Hills resembles her own house. Deerfield Towne Center’s Little Free Library has books for all ages.

PHOTO: LINDSAY WIELONSKI

Neighborhood: East Walnut Hills

Where to nd it: 2728 Hackberry St. Special characteristics: Red house replica situated near lush greenery

What’s inside at the moment:

Alone in the Dark, Deception Point, Keys to Uncomfortable Living, My Game and Yours

ALICE FINKELSTEIN’S HOUSE has its very own miniature replica, modi ed to serve as a Little Free Library. e little library is painted red and features a black roof with a chimney on the top, mirroring Finkelstein’s real house behind it.

Finkelstein is a librarian and head of technical services at Klau Library, which is part of the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion that houses one of the top American collections of Hebrew history, literature and culture.

Six years ago, when she had taken a pause from being a librarian after a long career, Finkelstein felt she was missing that piece in her life.

“I still felt like a librarian at heart,” Finkelstein tells CityBeat.

Finkelstein says discovering the Little Free Library organization ful lled that longing for her librarian days while also enabling her to provide a secure place for children to retrieve books.

“ ere was really no safe, walkable library, especially for children,” Finkelstein said. “So I really wanted to do a lot of children’s books. It seemed like there was a need for one.”

Finkelstein says she registered her location and

ordered a library box from the Little Free Library website, customizing the structure to match the style of her home. Due to her knowledge of libraries, Fickelstein knew where to get books for her upcoming visitors.

Finkelstein says she has had the little library for years and notices a few people pass by each day, either to pick up a book or merely to browse her selection. Her favorite part of the process is interacting with the people that visit, she says.

“I think it is just kind of the librarian in me that gets this little thrill,” Finkelstein says. “Like, when somebody takes a book…sometimes if I’m working out in the yard, they’ll come by and say something about it, then I want to know what it is they like to read. e librarian in me just wants to give people books. at’s satisfying in itself.”

As bookstores and digital reading options have increased over the years, Finkelstein says some have raised concerns about whether traditional public libraries would remain. However, she says that these developments – including the Little Free Libraries – have caused an interest in reading overall, creating a positive impact on both libraries and neighborhoods.

“I feel like the more people have access to books and the more they remember that reading is a pleasant thing to do, and the more that they nd books with their kids and read for their kids, it perpetuates more reading and more literacy,” Finkelstein says. “So it’s really just an opportunity to keep reading as a social thing and a neighborly thing that’s right there when you’re walking down the street.” - Lauren Serge

Neighborhood: Mason

Where to nd it: Meadowbrook Lane Special characteristics: Small, light gray box posted to a wooden gazebo leg and framed by greenery What’s inside at the moment: e Lucky Years, All Creatures Great and Small, A Writer’s Reference, Green Eggs and Ham

AFTER BRAINSTORMING AND conversation in 2020, the idea to install a Little Free Library on this Mason street came to fruition in March of 2021. Rob Folmar, Arbor Creek’s Homeowners Association (HOA) president, and another HOA board member installed a Little Free Library to o er book-sharing to neighborhood residents.

“After conversations with a couple neighbors, we thought it would be an a ordable and nice amenity to provide the neighborhood,” Folmar tells CityBeat.

Folmar bought the Little Free Library from the organization’s website and installed it on a gazebo in the neighborhood that overlooks a pond. One of the gazebo’s posts made for a good foundation, eliminating the step of building a post to attach the library to, he says.

Once the library was installed, Folmar stocked it with a few children’s books. After that, the “Take a book, share a book,” slogan of Little Free Library took o in the neighborhood.

“ e rst day, I think I had put some children’s books in,” Folmar says. “I think other people put some more adult books in there, but since then, I have not put anything in there, but it looks fairly stocked.”

Folmar says that there’s always risk that comes with installing a public amenity.

“You put something up, you’re always scared of, you know, somebody’s going to damage it or somebody’s going to paint on it,” Folmar says.

So far, there haven’t been any signs of damage. e neighborhood’s Little Free Library is used often by residents and houses new books about every few weeks, Folmar says. - Lindsay Wielonski

This library in a Mason subdivision overlooks a pond.

PHOTO: LINDSAY WIELONSKI

Neighborhood: Northside

Where to nd it: McKie Recreation Center, 1655 Chase Ave. Special characteristics: a blue box with a slanted roof

What’s inside at the moment:

Isabelle from the American Girl doll series, Time Castaways, Wild, e Killer Angels

MANY COMMUNITY BOOK stands are erected on streets with heavy foot tra c. is one takes that idea to the next level. e McKie Recreation Center in Northside sees thousands of visitors every year, thanks to its tness center, gymnasium, swimming pool and a bevy of classes and programming. A book exchange to the left of the facility’s main entrance makes perfect sense, then. e LFL-registered structure beckons in a cheerful blue hue, with a decal on the cupboard window showing that it’s sponsored by the Literacy Network of Greater Cincinnati, a nonpro t that connects local reading programs and organizations.

Inside the wooden repository, curious folks can nd everything from ction to biographies to self-help.

But the vast selection of children’s books is what makes this Little Free Library so much fun. at’s what seven-year-old Madison Kelly says. A regular at the rec center (her mom is an employee), Kelly tells CityBeat that she pulls out a new book to read every chance she gets.

“I like to look for big words, like in chapter books, so I can try to read them,” Kelly says, adding that she’s very good at sounding out words. “Every time I come by the library, I take a di erent book that I can read rst and a di erent book that’s hard. I always say, ‘I can do it.’”

Kelly opens the Little Free Library and becomes excited when she sees e Cat in the Hat and Magic Tree House books. e young student, who says she also is a gymnast, tells CityBeat that she hadn’t yet grabbed those from the book cupboard.

Kelly says that she also visits the Cincinnati Public Library for books frequently, but with the rec center so convenient thanks to her mom’s position, the Little Free Library has become her go-to source for reading material.

“I love learning math and reading,” Kelly says. at will come in handy years down the road, as the rstgrader reveals that she might want to become a teacher in order to help others learn to read.

Madison Kelly grabs a book outside McKie Recreation Center.

Neighborhood: CUF

Where to nd it: 2195 Maisel Dr. Special characteristics: Pale white craftsman cupboard surrounded by greenery and a peace pole

What’s inside at the moment:

Midnight Sun from the Twilight series, e Scarlet Pimpernel, e 6 Most Important Decisions You’ll Ever Make, LSAT Prep Tests Unlocked

MANY READERS THRIVE on discovery – holing up in a secret spot where they can dive into a new book that stokes their imagination more than they’d dared to hope. e location of Jane O’Brien’s Little Free Library in CUF is tailor-made for that. With easy proximity to several local colleges – plus plenty of students housed along her street – O’Brien’s book exchange already is a boon for curious minds. But with her charming bungalow, tall, lush greenery and rabbits and squirrels running about on her cozy one-way drive, O’Brien’s dreamy setting itself also brings to mind portions of J.R.R. Tolkein’s fantasy novel e Hobbit – appropriate for housing a library with tomes of every genre.

O’Brien says she saw her rst Little Free Library at St. Catherine University while she was visiting the Minneapolis area for a conference in 2012.

“I’d never seen anything like it. It said, ‘Leave a book, take a book,’ and I thought, ‘What a great idea,’” O’Brien says. “I didn’t know anybody in Ohio who had one.”

Jane O’Brien’s library in CUF complements her peace pole.

PHOTO: ALLISON BABKA

After some research into the growing initiative, O’Brien and a friend who works on projects around her home began planning the library that eventually would be stationed on Maisel Drive in 2014. She says her library typically carries non ction, literary classics, theology books and anti-racism books, but patrons – who often are dog walkers or employees at a nearby nursing home – also drop o other genres.

“Everything eventually goes, which is amazing,” O’Brien says.

She says that delivery drivers from UPS, FedEx and Amazon frequently browse the cupboard, as well.

“ ey knock on the door and say – this has happened three times to me – ’I don’t have any books to put in it. Can I still take one?’ And I say, ‘Sure, take two, take three,’” O’Brien recalls. “One man said, ‘You know, it’s my boy’s birthday next week and I’d like to get him a book.’”

O’Brien supplies some of the books herself, but many are from friends, employees at the nursing home or nuns who visit her from Wisconsin. O’Brien, herself, is a Catholic nun and says her friends insist on bringing something each time they come.

“ ey like to arrive with all the leftovers from their refrigerators. And I have a very small house, a very small refrigerator, so now I say to them, ‘Please don’t bring anything, especially anything that needs to be refrigerated. But I could use some books for the little library.’ So they come with lots and lots of children’s books, and that’s nice,” O’Brien says.

Literacy is important to O’Brien, who had studied classical languages and then taught English and religion, including at a girls’ school near Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She’s been at her house on Maisel for about 20 years, she says.

“For me, [the Little Free Library] is part of the literacy movement. I tutor young kids and adults who are illiterate and teenagers who are semi-literate, and many of the children have never seen any books,” O’Brien says. “Not only are people not reading to them, but their parents are illiterate. Books are a foreign thing to them.”

O’Brien says that her Little Free Library – like others around the nation – helps to open minds and build community. It’s the perfect complement to a tall pole that stands near the book cupboard, its message written in Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew and English: “Peace.”

- Allison Babka

ere are Little Free Libraries and other book exchanges throughout Greater Cincinnati. Here are a few more that caught CityBeat’s eye recently.

Neighborhood: Westwood Where to find it: 3115 Hanna Ave. While walking along Hanna Avenue in Westwood, one may be struck by the brightly-colored wooden box at the end of a driveway, whose rainbow themes mirror the LGBTQ+ pride ag hanging at the home’s entrance. is box houses a Little Free Library, painted with neon purples, greens and oranges on each of its sides and edges. e cupboard is decorated with stencils throughout, featuring a white dandelion blowing in the wind as well as a pattern of di erent-colored dogs. e structure houses books like A Girl Named Misty by Kelly Starling Lyons, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, e Stars, Like Dust by Isaac Asimov and Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand. (LS)

Neighborhood: Bellevue Where to find it: 407 Grandview Ave. is mini library sits on the lawn of a tall, rusty-brown house in a neighborhood full of colorful narrow homes. e library itself is house-shaped with shingles on its roof and owers attached to its side. Dozens of children’s books lie against each other, including works from children’s author Mary Pope Osborn and the self-help book Great Leaders Have No Rules. Stranded by Survivor host Je Probst also makes an appearance. (LW)

Neighborhood: Over-the-Rhine Where to find it: 1300 Republic St. Nestled in a gated courtyard across from Sundry and Vice and not far from Washington Park sits a T-shaped book-exchange structure. e library is decorated with mosaic tiles, forming the shape of an opened book that also resembles the state of Ohio. e orange, yellow and white tiles o er a pop of color in the courtyard against the black metal fencing that surrounds it. Book choices such as Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright, Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux and two installments of the Big Nate series by Lincoln Peirce are among the options in the concrete structure, o ering a wide range of genres from children’s books to biographies to historical ction. At the center of the courtyard is a large tree, o ering shade to those reading on one of the nearby benches. (LS)

Neighborhood: Covington Where to find it: George Rogers Clark Park, 301 Riverside Dr. George Rogers Clark Park holds court along the Ohio River in Covington, providing scenic views of Downtown Cincinnati and of traveling boats. Here, you’ll nd a curious library in the shape of a steamboat. e large structure is white, with a red paddlewheel and a black smoke stack, just like an actual ship. e structure has two knobs on the front that open the book cupboard. Near the library is a donated bench made of materials from an old green line steamboat. e bench honors Mary Greene, a captain who became one of the rst female boat masters and river pilots; a statue of Greene rests nearby. (LS)

Neighborhood: Northside Where to find it: Donaldson Place near Haight Avenue

Tucked away on a quiet street in Northside, a colorful mini-library is just begging to be discovered. With its reddishpink door and tiny arched windows, the cream-colored wooden structure somewhat resembles a dollhouse. ere are no dolls here, though – just dozens of books and an homage to poultry. Open the library’s door to be greeted with “wallpaper” covered in charming illustrations of distinguished hens and roosters. As of press time, the books themselves aren’t chicken-themed, but there’s plenty of well-curated variety: e Peach Truck Cookbook, Fahrenheit 451, Rede ning Realness and books from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Goosebumps series. But the library’s most striking feature is right at the top – the rainbow shingled roof with two realistic wooden birds and a lavender cat weathervane holding court. To add to the appeal, there’s a bowl of water at the base of the structure, perfect for dogs who need a break as their owners browse the stacks. (AB)