Little Free Library at West Meadow Beach

When you visit West Meadow Beach this summer, be sure to “check out” a book from the Little Free Library, built by Emma Clark Library in partnership with the Town of Brookhaven and Park Ranger Molly Hastings. The structure was made out of recycled materials by the Library's Building Manager, James Krause. There’s no need for a library card or to return a book – this is a “take a book, leave a book” concept, part of the Library's outreach service to the community.

Library staff and the public will be contributing books for the sole purpose of the Little Free Library (books are not owned by Emma Clark – don’t return your library books here!). The Little Free Library will be maintained by teen volunteers for the months of July and August, and will be located under the pavilion at the beach. There is no need to live in Three Village to share in this give and take project, as long as you are a visitor at West Meadow Beach. The Little Free Library will simply enhance the friendly and hospitable feel that already exists in Three Village.

As the Little Free Library states on their website, “Little Free Libraries are hand-crafted structures filled with constantly changing collections of books donated and shared by people of all ages and backgrounds.” Their mission is to promote a sense of community, reading for children, and literacy for adults and libraries around the world. Little Free Library was founded in 2010 by Todd H. Bol in Hudson, Wisconsin and established as a nonprofit organization in May 2012. The organization has won numerous awards including the Innovations in Reading Prize from the National Book Foundation, the Movers and Shakers Award from the American Library Association, and the Literacy Award from the Library of Congress. Countless media outlets including USA Today, The Washington Post, and The Huffington Post have named Little Free Library as a global movement. An estimated 9.3 million books are exchanged through Little Free Libraries a year.

The Little Free Library at West Meadow Beach is registered on www.littlefreelibrary.org and can be found on the site’s official map of all Little Free Libraries across the United States and 70 countries worldwide. Emma Clark Library is proud to bring this social project to the neighborhood!