As a children’s author and illustrator, I have the privilege of running Writing Workshops in local schools. In early June, 2018, as I was heading home after a pleasant afternoon walk, I heard shout, ‘Hey! You’re the author that came to our school.’ It was one of the boys — who I had only had a workshop with his class the previous week — visiting a neighbour’s son. We ended up talking about writing, stories and books, and the two boys walked me home to see ‘what an author’s house looked like’. One of the boy’s older sister joined us, and I read books to them, and they chose a book each to borrow.
I realised that a Little Library would be wonderful in my neighbourhood. So, I bought a bookshelf for my hallway and let me author friends know what I planned (I wanted to buy and paint a small cupboard which would attract the kids) and it has snowballed from there. Many donations of my friends books (along with books they took of their own shelves) have flooded in. The first group of kids have told their friends, and it is steadily taking off as more children get to know about it.
Many children don’t read for various reasons. Some may have just never found a book they like and want to finish. I hope that having a library just for children in my neighbourhood, will help them find books they like and instill a love of reading.
