Welcome to Poetry Friday. Our host on this first week of November is Mary Lee Hahn HERE. Thank you Mary Lee! Be sure to stop by and see what she’s sharing this week.
Today, I read a pile of picture books at my local bookstore and would like to share one by a writer who is passionate about kids and books, Miranda Paul. She is one of the founders of the WNDB movement. Her book, LITTLE LIBRARIES, BIG HEROES, Illustrated by John Parra, is a book worth adding to your library. I have. It’s not just about little libraries. It’s also about following a passion, growing an idea, generosity and public service all in one. This book is for everyone.
Several weeks ago I wrote wrote about my hometown Carnegie Library Here. But one doesn’t have to have 350 million dollars to build thousands of libraries. In LITTLE LIBRARIES: BIG HEROES, we learn that some libraries can be built for much, much less and still make a big impact.
In this true story, a young man named Todd, an “ordinary guy” who had been inspired by his mom to love books, built the first little library, like the one above. Neighbors loved it. It caught on. He told his friend about it.
Todd felt his nifty box of books had potential. He called up his friend Rick, who was always chock-full of grand ideas.
Rick thought that they could
build thousands of little boxes!
Like Andrew Carnegie,
who once built 2,510 libraries!
They could take trips!
Like Lutie Stearns, who brought
traveling libraries all over Wisconsin!
Rick liked the idea, but . . .
WAIT A MINUTE!
Andrew Carnegie had been a
wealthy businessman. Lutie Stearns
was a trained librarian. The two of
them were just ORDINARY guys.
(And they were particularly low
on cash.)
How man libraries could two
ORDINARY guys create?
How far could ORDINARY people
spread an idea?
They agreed on one thing--
they wanted to find out.
So the two “ordinary” young men decided to explore their dream of creating a Little Library movement. This is their story. The result: as of 2019, there were 75,000 official, registered Little Free Libraries in eighty-eight countries.
I was touched by this book about ordinary people doing extraordinary things and making a difference. It’s an important story.
Before I close I’ll turn your attention to the changing weather and the holidays looming with three seasonal haiku:
November winds howl. Leaves rattle and acorns roll, but winter still comes. Holiday darlings. Butternuts roast in ovens. Hubbard waits its turn. Christmas Spirit hides behind Thanksgiving's turkey, practicing carols. © Janice Scully 2021
Thank you, Mary Lee, for hosting today!