Judy Sugiyama of Almaden first heard about The Little Free Library from a friend whose daughter was writing a research paper on literacy. The Little Free Library is a movement that began in Wisconsin in 2009 when Todd Bol decided to build a model of a school house and fill it with books to commemorate the death of his mother who was a school teacher. Eventually Bol crossed paths with Rick Brooks from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and, together, they established what has become known as The Little Free Library.
One of the things that inspired the project was Andrew Carnegie’s involvement in the establishment of 2,509 free libraries across the United States. So, the team made it a goal to match the amount of their libraries to that of Carnagie’s. The Little Free Library achieved this goal in August 2012. To date there have been over 15,000 Little Free Libraries built around the world.
It’s easy to see what all the fuss is about. The Little Free Library is a neighborhood gem. Children love that there is a mysterious little house full of all sorts of books that ornaments the neighborhood. Adults love that on a warm summer walk, or on a cool winter evening they can stop by The Little Free Library to find a new book to snuggle up with.
But of course, one of the best things about the library is the message that it sends to the community: reading and the sharing of ideas is an essential aspect of being a modern, intelligent and sensible human being. I find that in San Jose, reading hasn’t been cool since the last Harry Potter book came out, so it’s refreshing to see people take interest in the push for literacy.
The first Little Library that I came upon was on Brenton Avenue, off of Doyle Road in West San Jose. The library resembled a simple white school house and was filled with several dozen books — with titles ranging from C.S. Lewis’s Prince Caspian to the iBook for Dummies, which account for a variety of tastes around the neighborhood.
Seeing that there was a Little Library in my very own neighborhood was a pleasant surprise. I stopped by the house of Judy and Kevin Sugiyama the other day to ask them what prompted them to enrich the neighborhood with such a lovely addition. Judy explained that, “I thought it was a good movement, so I thought it was a good thing.We’ve had a very positive response from the people. I’ve donated over a hundred books. Neighbors come by before they go on vacation to see if there’s any good reads. It’s a good thing.”
It is a good thing, thanks to Judy and thousands of people around the world there’s something to look forward to just around the corner.
Penned by Alina K. A. 