Theresa Deckebach of Glenside with patrons of her Little Free Library, Riley Kishpaugh (center) and Lia D'Arcangelo.

by Sarah Alessandrini

If you’ve been walking around Chestnut Hill lately, maybe around Hilltop Road or Shawnee Street, you’ve probably come across a Little Free Library.

Little Free Libraries are free book exchanges set up outside homes or in public areas such as parks and libraries. These Little Libraries can be found in several public spaces throughout Chestnut Hill, including the Chestnut Hill Library and the Jenks Playground, but they are also scattered throughout the neighborhood’s residential streets. The objective is simple: Take a book, leave a book.

Phyllis Donahue, a local of Chestnut Hill and member of the Friends of Chestnut Hill Library, was introduced to Little Free Library by Margaret Brunton, the former head librarian at the Chestnut Hill Library. Donahue became a Little Free Library “steward,” a person who operates a Little Free Library, two years ago after receiving the library as a holiday gift.

“You are taking a walk and you see [a Little Free Library] and you stop,” Donahue said. “It’s a fun thing to do. You see a book that looks interesting and you pick it up.”

According to the official Little Free Library website at www.littlefreelibrary.org, the organization aims to inspire a love of reading, build community and spark creativity. While Donahue said she enjoys visiting other Little Libraries to take out and leave books, she said she’s heard positive feedback from people who have used her own library.

“Neighbors who live a couple blocks away tell me that they’ve used my library,” she said. “A couple of kids who live on my street were very excited about it.”

Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization founded by Todd H. Bol in 2009. Although the organization began in Hudson, Wis., Little Free Libraries can be found all over the country. Donahue said she saw Little Free Libraries when visiting her son in Oregon and also visiting her other son in Oklahoma.

A little Free Library at the little free library.

Theresa Deckebach, a teacher from Glenside, said that her first encounter with a Little Free Library was on the boardwalk in Bradley Beach, N.J. She wanted to set up her Library next to a bench in a public field behind her house.

“I did face a few challenges with establishing the Library and that was getting permission from the township to put the Library on Township property,” Deckebach said. “It took a few weeks to go through the proper channels, but the township was quite accommodating and helped with the hole digging for installation.”

Deckebach bought her Little Free Library with a Visa card given to her by her students during the 2016-17 school year. Several library models are available for purchase on the organization’s website, littlefreelibrary.org/

“I think my favorite part of a Little Free Library is seeing all the wonderful new books that my neighbors leave for each other and organizing the collection so that the next visitor will enjoy browsing and selecting a book,” said Deckebach.

Jennifer Gatens of Mt. Airy said that her family loves their Little Free Library, especially her 7-year-old daughter, and the Library became active almost immediately after setting it up.

“We put it up Mother’s Day weekend 2018 and almost every day there are books exchanged,” said Gatens. “I think it adds a community vibe to our block. We’ve had several people thank us for putting it up.”

Little Free Libraries come in all shapes and sizes, but they are most commonly a wooden box perched up on a post, like a mailbox or birdhouse full of books. As one aim of Little Free Library is to ignite creativity, stewards are encouraged to operate and design their library however they choose. Jayne and Bob Dambman, both public school librarians, combined their love of reading with their love of designing and building to create their unique Little Free Library.

The couple lives next to the historic Erdenheim Farm on Flourtown Road, so they designed their library to look like a red barn, complete with a silo. Their Library, named “Annie’s Library,” is located on the corner beside their life-sized angus cow named “Annie,” which the couple built a few years ago. The Dambmans also put a visitor’s book inside their Library for guests to sign. They said they love reading the messages that visitors leave.

Little Free Libraries are especially popular with children. Erin Hirsh, from Glenside, said that she initially stocked her library with mostly adult books, but found it became more popular once she started including children’s books.

“People have used the Library walking their dogs more often moms with kids,” said Hirsh.

One woman found Hirsh’s contact on the Little Free Library website and emailed her to thank her. She said that she visited Hirsh’s Library with her 3-year-old son, who had been specifically requesting the “little brown” Library because of its lower height – he could stand and reach into it without assistance.

Hirsh said that her father-in-law built her Little Free Library three years ago. She decided to start her Library in memory of a family friend, Penny Berlin, who influenced Hirsh’s love of reading at a young age.

“ taught me a lot about reading and was always finding books that I would love,” said Hirsh. When Berlin passed away, Hirsh visited her home in Pittsburgh after her funeral. Hirsh saw Berlin’s Little Free Library outside and decided to start her own.

“I just thought it would be an amazing way to honor her,” said Hirsh.

Little Free Library fosters community and creativity, but the organization's most notable goal is to encourage literacy and provide easy access to books, especially for children. According to the Little Free Library website, up to 61 percent of low-income families do not have any books for their kids at home.

“Reading is an essential life skill, so children need to develop into confident, comfortable readers to help them with adulthood’s challenges,” said Sue Heckrotte, a steward from Mt. Airy. Heckrotte said she started her Little Library a few years ago after learning that the Houston School no longer had a library. While the school now has a library again, with the help of generous volunteers, Heckrotte said that her Little Free Library is remarkably active.

“As soon as it was up, it attracted a lot of attention and continues to be remarkably active, often circulating as many as a dozen books in a day,” said Heckrotte. “I’d especially like to see more Little Free Libraries in areas where there aren’t many or any.”

The registration process for Little Free Library is easy: After paying a small fee, Little Free Libraries sends a library serial number to stewards to register their library online. Stewards are not required to put their library on the website map, but making your library’s location known is a great way to build community.

Heckrotte said that starting a Little Free Library takes time and dedication, but she recommends doing so as a Little Library can be “very rewarding.” She said one of her favorite moments with her library was hearing a little boy shout “I see the Little Library! I see the Little Library!” as he approached with his family on what they said was their weekly walk.

“What could be better than knowing this little person was excited to pick up a new book,” said Heckrotte.

Local intern Sarah Alessandrini is a rising senior at Mount Saint Joseph Academy. She lives in Blue Bell and is a writer and editor for both her school newspaper and literary magazine.