Little Free Library fills a need

"Where there's a will, there's a way" may be cliche, but it is no less true and is clearly seen in Pocahontas with the opening of a Little Free Library. With the closest bricks-and-mortar library 10 miles away in Jackson, residents may now "take a book, return a book" from their own neighborhood. Doris Dace and Becky LaClair turned their love of books and magazines into a project that is sparking and fueling an appreciation for literature in their small community.

Hudson, Wisconsin, is the birthplace of the Little Free Library, a concept with which Dace was familiar. When she decided to bring that concept to Pocahontas, she utilized her friend LaClair to help make her vision a reality. They received the city's permission, conducted the research necessary to register their library and selected an ideal place. That place happens to be where the school bus drops students off and picks them up. Often, these young people browse through the reading material as they await the bus in the mornings.

Dace, a retired teacher, said, "I think it's such a good thing to do, and it's particularly good for children. I want to be able to foster a love of reading in children."

Libraries foster lifelong learning, and we appreciate them, but not every community can accommodate those large buildings filled with room after room of books, particularly smaller communities like Pocahontas. But residents there show us that with a little creativity and support, they do not have to be left out. With the help of a local business and community members, they built their own library -- a Little Free Library -- a benefit to those who cannot afford to buy books, those who have no way to drive the miles to a public library and those who simply want to enjoy a good magazine as they wait for the bus.

At a mere 15 inches in width, the Little Free Library calls to mind yet another cliche: "Good things come in small packages."