Mobile libraries coming to Wayne and Westland

Westland Rotary President Lou Toarmina and Wayne Rotary President Antoinette Wirth receive the Little Free Libraries made by William D. Ford Career Technical Center students Bryan Isaacs, Josh Begarowicz, Kevin Young and Chad Richardson to go out into the community.

The Wayne and Westland Rotary Clubs, along with help from the construction technology students at the William D. Ford Career Technical Center, are providing Little Free Libraries for the community.
Little Free Libraries is a “take a book, return a book” box full of books where neighbors can stop by and pick up a book or two and bring back another book to share.
It started in 2009 when Todd Bol of Hudson, Wisconsin, built a model of a one-room schoolhouse as a tribute to his mother, a former schoolteacher who loved reading.  He put it in his front yard and filled it with books with a sign that said “Free books.”
His neighbors and friends loved it so he built several more and gave them away.
As of January 2015, there are over 25,000 registered Little Free Libraries in all 50 states and over 70 countries.
Bryan Issacs, Josh Begarowicz and Chad Richardson, students in the Construction Technology class, built 10 handcrafted structures that look like small schoolhouses for the Wayne and Westland Rotary Clubs. They were built to withstand the weather and hold from 20-100 books. The Interact Club at Wayne Memorial High School painted and decorated the wood libraries. They will be filled with books by each club and distributed throughout Wayne and Westland.
In Wayne the five Little Free Libraries will be placed at Wayne Memorial High School, Starfish Family Services, Michigan Works! Wayne Service Center, Roosevelt-McGrath Elementary School, and the Wayne Community Center.
Each little library will feature books for children, teens, young adults and adults. Rotary members will donate the books; the sites will then be responsible for maintaining the supply of books, said Wayne Rotary President Antoinette Wirth.
Community members can use the little libraries the same as they would a regular library- take a book, read it and then return it. But they can return a different book too.
Benefits of the Little Free Libraries are they don’t require library cards and there aren’t any late fees. It is a great was to promote a sense of community, reading for children and literacy for adults.
The Rotary Clubs will fill the libraries with books. They chose this program for the educational and outreach opportunities in the local community. They will be stocked and set up before the end of the school year.