June 2018
THE BEACON
Page 5A
A Community Affair for Reading- Take a Book, Leave a Book
Using materials donated by the Hidden Valley Lake
Property Owners Association, Rick Baumgartner builds
another Little Free Library. Photo by Jenna Baumgartner.
Enthusiastic readers and
good friends, Emily Geglein
and Amber Griffin choose
books and discover new
authors together. Photo by
Tracy Geglein.
Continued from page 4A
songwriter Jim Gill finishes
his program on June 13th.
It’s easy to become a
Friend of Hoosier Literacy,
a membership opportunity
that is similar to Friends of
the Library. According to
Mrs. Priebe, the idea came
from Donna Marple. “So as
not to be confused with the
Friends of the Library, we’re
doing our main thrust as far
as mailings this summer, but
wherever we see an opportu-
nity, we mention it … There’s
an online form, and we have
paper forms here at the Law-
renceburg Library that they
can drop off or mail.”
Little Free Libraries (LFL),
too, promote literacy. It all
began with one man in Wis-
consin building a miniature
one-room schoolhouse filled
with books free for anyone
to take, in memory of his
mother, a teacher and avid
reader. Like the books found
inside, Todd Bol’s and Rick
Brooks’ initial idea has been
passed from reader to reader,
growing to more than 4,000
Little Free Libraries all over
the world.
Jenna Baumgartner, Vice
President of Hoosier Hills
Literacy League, and her
husband Rick are Friends of
Hoosier Literacy. They are
stewards of the two Little Free
Libraries they built in Hidden
Valley Lake. In an email, Mrs.
Baumgartner writes, “I love
the “Take a book - Leave a
book” concept. The LFL is a
great way to share the joy of
reading. Sometimes you read a
book, and you love it so much
you just have to pass it along.”
Mrs. Baumgartner explains,
“Being a steward is a simple
task. I just stop by the LFL
and straighten the books every
couple of months. They really
take care of themselves as
patrons take a book and leave
a book. If you are just walk-
ing by and you don’t have a
book to leave, feel free to take
a book or two anyway. One
thing I ask is that patrons not
overfill the library. Just plac-
ing one or two books in the
LFL is sufficient.
“Lots of people have LFLs
in their front lawns. They
make great family projects.
You can design, build or buy
your own. Pinterest has lots
of ideas. If you want to have
your library chartered and on
the world map, visit https://
littlefreelibrary.org/ .”
Dearborn County’s Little
Free Libraries can also be
found in Lawrenceburg near
Trinity Episcopal Church and
at the Community Garden,
as well as inside the Aurora
Community Center.
In Jefferson County, the
public is invited to sponsor
a LFL for a one-time $100
donation. Mrs. Geglein says,
“We will actually have 25
placed around the county
when we’re finished … we
have them at different busi-
nesses and homes, not-for-
profits and schools. Our goal
is to get them out where
people don’t have access to
books.”
For every family with young
children, the Imagination
Library continues to nurture
literacy. Mrs. Priebe says,
“One of the things that make
it so unique is that there are
no income requirements, so
it’s not targeting any specific
demographic. Children from
the time they’re born until
their fifth birthday can receive
a new book in the mail that’s
specially selected for their age.
All that is necessary is to
register through the library.
It’s also possible to give a gift
to the Imagination Library in
honor of a teacher at the end
of the school year, or a family
member instead of flowers or
yet another tie. That person
will receive a card letting them
know they’ve been remem-
bered in a meaningful way.
Mrs. Priebe describes an
intergenerational literacy proj-
ect currently being developed:
“There’s a program called
Storied Lives … designed
to give service-oriented
high school seniors who like
to write an opportunity to
connect with seniors in the
community. It has a list of
questions and is structured as
a six- to ten-week program
… What they end up publish-
ing is a bound booklet. There
are samples on their website
where you can see where
the young person’s perspec-
tive, their voice kind of came
through; where they use their
personality and their voice to
write about what their senior
partner experienced, and some
that are more narrative … It’s
a relatively short, compact,
doable thing.
“It’s on my dream list,
and I’ve gotten permission
from the Board to pursue it.
It doesn’t cost any money,
just my time. My investment
would be selling the idea,
bringing together the partners,
and watching it happen.”
Mrs. Priebe would also like
to develop a picture diction-
ary for English language
learners wherein photographs
taken of local places would
be matched with applicable
vocabulary words.
When individuals champion
literacy, entire communities
benefit through saved public
funds, enriched work forces,
and improved life for families.
For more information,
please visit:
http://www.hoosierhillslit-
eracyleague.net/home.html
http://www.rivervalleyre-
sources.com/Services/Educa-
tionandTraining/AdultEduca-
tion.aspx
https://littlefreelibrary.org/
* saturday **
* JULY 28, 2018 *
eyton’s Big
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