(May 19, 2016) It’s only been a month since Ellie Black’s “Little Library” was installed at the playground at Byrd Park, but in that short time, vandals have damaged the book box three times, tearing off the door twice and smashing the glass at least once.
Each time, the town has repaired and reinforced it, and it will continue to do so, Mayor Charlie Dorman said.
“Of course, we’re going to keep fixing it,” he said. “And we’d like everyone’s help watching over it.”
Installed in April, Black’s little library stands about four feet tall, is painted bright blue and has a shingled roof with a glass-paned door and a latch. Black, a fourth-grade student at Snow Hill Middle School, built the library on the weekends with her father, Brent Black, over a period of two months.
The idea came from a news report the fourth-grader saw describing the “Little Free Library” movement started in 2010. Black’s project is unaffiliated with the larger program, but last week the town unveiled its own officially recognized Little Free Library at the Laundromat on Market Street. My’Jae Waters, a first-grader at Snow Hill Elementary School, was designated the “official librarian” of that effort.
Black, inspired by the news report, asked her father if she could build her own little library. At the time, she said, Byrd Park seemed like a perfect spot, since children are often on the playground, and wrote a letter to the mayor and Town Council asking permission to install the library once completed.
The council told Black they thought it was a great idea, and once it was finished, scheduled a date to install it.
That day came and passed in early April, and since then Black has come back twice to restock books and inspect damage.
“I don’t think it’s discouraging,” she said about the repeated vandalism, “I just want to fix it.”
Three sheets of Plexiglas, each about one-eighth of an inch thick now sit where a single pane of glass was once seated. The hinges have been reinforced, and a new latch on the door has been installed.
“We can’t just let it keep happening — it might just be the newness of it. It’s definitely not discouraging, hopefully, eventually everyone will see the value,” Ellie’s mother Donna Black said.
There have been talks about moving the library a little farther away from the playground to the town’s Public Works building, about one-quarter of a mile west of the current location.
Ellie Black is not a fan of the idea.
“If it moved, people doing this will just move over there and do it some more,” she said.
Her solution is simple.
“I think people should take the books and use it as it’s supposed to be used. It’s really hurting our community,” she said. “If you’re just going to keep breaking it — what’s the point?”
Each time, the town has repaired and reinforced it, and it will continue to do so, Mayor Charlie Dorman said.
“Of course, we’re going to keep fixing it,” he said. “And we’d like everyone’s help watching over it.”
Installed in April, Black’s little library stands about four feet tall, is painted bright blue and has a shingled roof with a glass-paned door and a latch. Black, a fourth-grade student at Snow Hill Middle School, built the library on the weekends with her father, Brent Black, over a period of two months.
The idea came from a news report the fourth-grader saw describing the “Little Free Library” movement started in 2010. Black’s project is unaffiliated with the larger program, but last week the town unveiled its own officially recognized Little Free Library at the Laundromat on Market Street. My’Jae Waters, a first-grader at Snow Hill Elementary School, was designated the “official librarian” of that effort.
Black, inspired by the news report, asked her father if she could build her own little library. At the time, she said, Byrd Park seemed like a perfect spot, since children are often on the playground, and wrote a letter to the mayor and Town Council asking permission to install the library once completed.
The council told Black they thought it was a great idea, and once it was finished, scheduled a date to install it.
That day came and passed in early April, and since then Black has come back twice to restock books and inspect damage.
“I don’t think it’s discouraging,” she said about the repeated vandalism, “I just want to fix it.”
Three sheets of Plexiglas, each about one-eighth of an inch thick now sit where a single pane of glass was once seated. The hinges have been reinforced, and a new latch on the door has been installed.
“We can’t just let it keep happening — it might just be the newness of it. It’s definitely not discouraging, hopefully, eventually everyone will see the value,” Ellie’s mother Donna Black said.
There have been talks about moving the library a little farther away from the playground to the town’s Public Works building, about one-quarter of a mile west of the current location.
Ellie Black is not a fan of the idea.
“If it moved, people doing this will just move over there and do it some more,” she said.
Her solution is simple.
“I think people should take the books and use it as it’s supposed to be used. It’s really hurting our community,” she said. “If you’re just going to keep breaking it — what’s the point?”