‘Take a book, leave a book’ is the premise behind the national nonprofit organization Little Free Library, proposed for Haines adoption by assembly member Brenda Josephson to the Parks and Recreation Committee. “But you wouldn’t necessarily have to return it,” Josephson said.

A sub-committee of Parks and Rec has been assigned to this project, consisting of members from Parks and Recreation, Community Youth Development, Haines Borough School DistrictHaines Borough Public Library, and Haines Arts Confluence.

Next spring, the committee hopes to have four mini-libraries at public parks within the borough. The proposed sites are: Mark’s Park, Tlingit Park, Picture Point, and Emerson Field. The project will be run on donations and volunteer work, Josephson said.

“So, the vision is that we’re going to have the school very active in making the libraries,” Josephson said. Beginning in Darwin Feakes’ wood shop class spring semester, students will construct the four mini library structures.

Little Free Library’s website outlines step-by-step building guidelines, as well as suggestions on weather-resistant materials, installation, and even a list of 10 common building mistakes to avoid, like ‘forgetting about awkwardly-sized children’s books’ or ‘letting water pool on top’ of a roof. Feakes said that the shape proposed by the committee was a rectangular structure with a glass door in front and a pitched roof.

“I think it’s a neat idea,” Feakes said of the little libraries. “It’ll be a good experience for the kids to do something a little different.”

In December the committee plans to put out a call for material donations, a list that will be drawn up with the help of Feakes. After the libraries are built, the committee intends to organize artistic decoration with school art classes. Haines Borough Public Library director Carolyn Goolsby said that the library gets many book donations that they will allocate to the free libraries, but the committee plans to ask for community donations, as well.

“I think as a community project it’s a great way to bring different groups and organizations together,” said Jackie St Clair, director of the borough’s Community Youth Development Program.

The rationale behind the selection of the parks was to pick both high and low traffic areas to promote the book exchange and the park, according to St. Clair.

“Emerson Field is one of the unused parks [in Haines], so it could be an attraction,” St Clair said.

Josephson said she got the idea when she saw a little library while hiking in Whitehorse on the Millennium Trail. “I thought how awesome it would be to have it in all of our parks and be a fun thing for us to do and make them available for people,” she said.

The Alaska Marine Highway ferries also operate a similar system of a free library, which Josephson said she has taken and left books from several times. “The mini-libraries are putting books where the people are, and I view it as an extension of our public library,” Josephson said.

Little Free Library, a trademarked nonprofit, requires a $40 fee for a charter sign and allows each community to be listed on the company’s website. The committee has not yet decided if they will apply for the charter.

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