Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – May 25, 2024 – Parents, here’s an opportunity to teach your kids the concept of reusing items and increasing the number of books they have access to. It’s called a Little Free Library.
They’re starting to pop up in different places around NE Arkansas, and Dean MacDonald of Jonesboro wants to encourage parents all over the area to drop off books that their children are no longer using, giving other children the same chance to enjoy them.
Take a book, share a book. It’s that easy.
MacDonald says the idea started taking shape as he saw public libraries being attacked across the country, including here in NE Arkansas. And, he just wanted to do something proactive concerning books that would make people happy.
Some supporters go to places like Barnes and Noble or the Verb Bookstore, purchase a few books and then place them in a Little Library. MacDonald suggested visiting Friends of the Library (a non-profit that supports the Public Library). There, you can purchase hardback books for $1 and paperbacks for $.50. Then, take those books to a Little Library, and help two causes at one time.
As a member of the Young Democrats of Arkansas, MacDonald was excited and impressed by the amount of support that this initiative had. “I’m always having people reach out and say, “do you need more books?” he admitted.
Right now, they don’t need books as much as they need other locations for Little Libraries. They are in several locations already, but he’s had several people contact him with additional opportunities.
“Sarah Nobles said for us to come put one in front of the Recovery Room (downtown), and we’re certainly going to do that. That’s a lot of foot traffic.”
“A good friend of ours, Ryan Carter, put these little libraries up in Corning, Piggott and Paragould. He was prioritizing rural townships all over Clay, Randolph and Greene County.”
As far as the kinds of books that MacDonald is looking for, children’s books top the list. And because those types of books are usually smaller, they can easily fit anywhere from 30 to 50 books in one Little Library.
“We want to buy books that are under attack via censorship. There’s a huge censorship movement in this country right now where people are removing books because they talk about slavery. People are removing books because they talk about African American history. People are removing books because it might have an LGBTQ plus character.” And MacDonald understands that he’ll get some pushback from parents on this topic, and he believes parents have every right to be concerned. “But how concerning is it when you have a gay kid, and they can’t read a book with a gay character in it without everybody freaking out about it? We have to consider their perspectives too.”
There are several Little Libraries in Jonesboro: on the grounds of the Magnolia Road Baptist Church, off of Highway 141 north in Jonesboro, in front of the Dr Hope Gilchrist office on West Washington, and at the Story Coffee House on Gee Street.
If you’ve got a location that you would like considered for a Little Library, message Dean MacDonald Jr on Facebook.
Providing more access to books is positive and productive, MacDonald feels, and one of his favorite quotes sums up the Little Library effort…
“If everyone does a little, then no one has to do a lot.”