Horizon Goodwill Industries is so excited to announce that we will be putting up a Little Free Library (LFL) at our 200 North Prospect Street location in downtown Hagerstown. Little Free Libraries’ ‘Give a Book, Take a Book’ principle inspires a love of reading, builds community, and sparks creativity by fostering neighborhood book exchanges around our communities. Through Little Libraries, millions of books are exchanged each year, increasing access to books for readers of all ages and backgrounds.
Locally, the LFL initiative was started by the Washington County Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) three years ago. ECAC is partnered with Washington County Public Schools to have 25 libraries created, and the LFL team purchased the required charters and work to provide the first set of books so that organizations could “adopt” them easily.
Over the last two years, Horizon Goodwill has donated thousands of books to teachers in the region. In partnership with Washington, Berkeley, and Jefferson County Public Schools, Goodwill provides grade/age specific books to new and incoming teachers before the start of a new school year.
This year, our Mission Team at Horizon Goodwill is working with Terri Gwizdala at ECAC to get our 1st (of hopefully many) installed and open to the public before Christmas. Even more exciting too: Goodwill’s LFL will be a wooden box build by Tech High students! Terri shared that, “To date, we [ECAC] have 37 libraries established in the [Washington] county, and currently have a wait list for 14 more. When we reach 50 libraries, the county will create an interactive map with all locations.”
Increasing access to books and providing opportunities for people of all ages to read more directly aligns with our Goodwill’s mission of “Removing Barriers, Creating Opportunities”. Little Free Libraries help us ensure that everyone has the chance to realize and achieve their fullest potential.
For more information and to test out other communities’ interactive maps, check out the LFL website at www.littlefreelibrary.org.
If you have questions, or need additional information, please contact Terri Gwizdala (ecacwashcomd@gmail.com or 301-310-6263) or Kathy Kerns (kernskat@wcps.k12.md.us).