{"id":2615,"date":"2014-08-13T17:39:47","date_gmt":"2014-08-13T22:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/home.snc.edu\/susanallen\/?p=2615"},"modified":"2014-08-13T17:39:47","modified_gmt":"2014-08-13T22:39:47","slug":"the-little-libraries-that-could","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sncmagazine.knight.domains\/uncategorized\/the-little-libraries-that-could\/","title":{"rendered":"The Little Libraries That Could"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I think I must be very late to the party but walking across campus this afternoon I noticed we have a new Little Free Library. This one comes via the English honors society, Sigma Tau Delta and, appropriately enough, it sits in the Shakespeare Garden.<\/p>\n

I like the selection currently on offer – from Arthur via Madame Bovary to Jonathan Kellerman. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It was only in our Spring 2014 issue that we shared news of another free library, Jenny’s Free Circulating Library:<\/span><\/p>\n

Give a book, take a book \u2026 keep a book! There are no fines or overdue notices at Jenny\u2019s Free Library,\u00a0located in a small wall of bookshelves just inside the\u00a0Mulva reflection lounge. The eclectic and ever-changing\u00a0collection commemorates the work of former library\u00a0employee Jenny Phillip, who died in 2012. Borrow a\u00a0book or take one to keep, or contribute volumes from\u00a0your own bookshelves \u2013 this library-within-the-library\u00a0does things just a little bit differently.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

And there’s another little free library, “ours” only in spirit, that has lingered in my mind since Fall 2009 we ran a piece by Hans Baader (History, Emeritus) on libraries he had known.<\/p>\n

Upon reflection, the library that I most fondly remember also happens to be the world\u2019s smallest. In war-torn Germany, a few weeks after that firebombing described earlier, an elderly lady discovered that, in one of the bombed-out buildings downtown, a room with a ceiling and three walls had survived. She managed to obtain a tarp (in the form of an abandoned military tent), which became the fourth wall. With four cinder blocks and two wooden boards she constructed a library shelf. Her library holdings were six books. On the outside of that ruined building she posted this note: \u201cLibrary open 12-5. No library card needed. Book donations welcome.\u201d It was not only heroic, it was a success. Two weeks later, the shelf held 13 volumes.<\/em><\/p>\n

Check out Baader’s article\u00a0when you have a minute. (You’ll\u00a0find it on page 19 of this PDF<\/a>.) I think it is one of the most powerful pieces we have ever run, actually. Here’s to the newest library on campus, and hoping it will, in time, be able to make as much of a difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I think I must be very late to the party but walking across campus this afternoon I noticed we have a new Little Free Library. This one comes via the English honors society, Sigma Tau Delta and, appropriately enough, it…<\/p>\n

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