A few weeks later, the two of us went to a meeting at Brightwaters Village Hall to pitch the idea of building a Little Free Library to be installed on our local community park. Everyone seemed to love the idea, and we promised to get started at some point in the spring.
Then March 2020 happened, and suddenly we found ourselves with a lot more free time. Our Little Free Library was finished and ready to be installed by early July. Over the last year or so, the idea born from the last date my husband and I enjoyed before the world shut down is now thriving. Though Rich and I are “stewards” (meaning we built it, purchased the charter, and promise to maintain it), the library’s success is due to many members of the community who are regular patrons. Before we installed the library, we amassed a collection of donated books from friends and co-workers. A few of them were placed into the library for its soft opening, and others are in several boxes in my attic. We have not once needed to go back and “re-load” the library; the community has made it their own.
At the suggestion of other Little Free Library stewards, we created an Instagram account to promote our library and engage with its users. I know there are many folks in this world who are incredibly skilled at leveraging social media for engagement, I’m not one of them. I haven’t posted to the Instagram account much, so there hasn’t been much engagement at all. I’m going to try to improve that in 2022.
The mere presence of the library might have helped some folks re-discover a natural love of reading. This year, I’d like to use he library and its Instagram account as a way to engage with members of the community and help all of us connect with one another. This is where the idea for the Reading Challenge came from, and topics are posted for each month as suggestions to help stretch readers beyond their comfort zones.
You don’t need to live in the community of visit Little Free Library #103103 to participate in this challenge – it’s open to everyone! I hope that we can use the Instagram page as a way to share and review our selected titles each month. There are no “prizes” for completing this challenge other than the personal satisfaction that might come with it. If a few friendships are forged through this process, that’s a bonus!
January’s suggested topic is A Recently Published Memoir. I have my title picked out, which I’ve shared on the LFL103103 Instagram page. I hope you check it out!
Whether or not the idea of this reading challenge is for you, I encourage you to read beyond your comfort zone in 2022. Where will you start?
Inside the Launch Window 