The College, The Observer and the Little Free Library

NEWBERRY — A new Little Free Library has been set up at the edge of the Setzler Field parking lot by College Street, marking it as the eighth Little Free Library to be built in Newberry.

Little Free Libraries are small book exchanges where anyone can add or take a book, with no expectation to take or leave a book when stopped at. Around the world, there are more than 150,000 Little Free Libraries throughout 120 countries. Where the majority of them focus on children’s books, the curators and stewards of the project, Angie and David Rachels, said that this one is unique.

“Our focus for this one was more books for adults or books for teens, not necessarily children’s books, which are usually the focus of many Little Free Libraries,” said Angie. “There is a Little Free Library that focuses on children’s books, that’s in front on the Center for Teacher Education (Speers St. School) on Speers Street.”

Before starting, the two toured around to get an idea of how they would go about setting the Little Free Library up by observing other, taking location, set up and condition into account. While on the campus of Piedmont Tech, the two saw an opportunity to get a community business involved in the project, the Newberry Observer.

“At Piedmont Tech, they had a Little Free Library that was a converted newspaper box that had been donated by the Observer,” David explained. “So we said ‘We like this idea and we know Andrew.’”

The next step, before asking the at the time publisher and editor of the Observer, Andrew Wigger, for the box, Angie and David had to find a place for the library. Originally, they planned on putting it in their front yard, but worried about not receiving a lot of foot traffic, they turned their sights to the perimeter of Newberry College.

“We didn’t want to do this just for Newberry College, we wanted it to be a neighborhood thing first and foremost,” the Rachels said.

The Rachels chose a spot where faculty and students park and a sidewalk that students, faculty and the community frequently use, they approached Andrew with the idea of turning an old newspaper box into a Little Free Library. After clearing it with his bosses, who were in full support, the Rachels brought the idea to Newberry College.

“I thought it was a great idea,” said Andrew Wigger. “The Little Free Libraries are a great asset to any town and community, I was happy to play a small part and I’m glad the Newberry Observer’s name is proudly displayed to sponsor.”

“I pitched it to President Sharons and he said it sounds great,” David said.

“We also talked to the library director to make sure that this wasn’t stepping on any toes. He was very supportive,” added Angie.

The newspaper box was repainted grey, the college’s other color than scarlet, as the Observer’s only condition to prevent anyone confusing the library with a functional newspaper box. The box was then made water tight, shelves were added inside the box and it was placed on a small platform along College Street, at the edge of the Setzler Field parking lot.

“We registered it with Little Free Library and we acquired a Little Free Library book plate with a charter number,” said Angie, marking the library as an official Little Free Library.

The location was important to the Rachels, who curate and look over the library. With it not far from their house, the two see and pass by the box everyday, ensuring it is taken care of.

“This started from an idea of moving along books we had read and hopefully that will be the case for other people in the neighborhood or at the college,” said Angie. “We’d love to see things from other people.”

The Little Free Library nonprofit organization has been honored by the Library of Congress, the National Book Foundation, and the American Library Association for its work in promoting literacy and a love of reading. To learn more, please visit littlefreelibrary.org.