LITTLE LIBRARIES PROMOTE LOVE OF LEARNING Photo by J. Intintoli
Two campus child care centers received Little Free Libraries during the fall semester as part of a joint project to promote the love of learning to children under the age of 5 and to improve access to books for both children and adults. Chapter 246 of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (PKP), MTSU’s most prestigious honor society for all academic disciplines, received a $1,200 literacy grant last summer from its national headquarters in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. MTSU’s circle of Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) National Leadership Honor Society simultaneously received a $500 grant from its national headquarters to purchase books on leadership for its new Leadership Lending Library and, as part of that project, decided to partner with the PKP chapter to build and stock the little libraries. Thanks to the efforts of our student leaders, Little Free Libraries have been installed at MTSU’s Child Development Center located at the Fairview Building and the Ann Campbell Early (ACE) Learning Center on Baird Lane. Each was constructed by graduate student Nathan Wahl, a PKP student vice president and a carpenter. Wahl called the libraries an “opportunity for discovery.” Connie Casha, director of early learning programs for MTSU’s College of Education, said she was very excited to have the ACE Little Free Library on campus, explaining the importance of books to childhood development. “We think about books as being windows or mirrors, windows into things that they can’t see immediately and mirrors being a reflection of what they already know,” Casha said. 30
ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2022
Little Free Library at ACE
