Avid readers rejoice, Little Free Libraries can now be found in Dolores. These small, uniquely painted and aptly named little libraries operate on the honor system, with the catch line "Take a book, leave a book."
All it takes is a walk or drive around the neighborhood in Dolores to find one. Teacher Mindy Becher has placed one near the bottom of her driveway.
"We have so many children in our neighborhood riding around and playing, I thought it was a perfect place," she said. She is looking forward to the interacting with the kids. "I can sit on my porch and read to them."
Christiane Vega has placed a box across the road, in space No. 42 of Lake View Trailer Park. Becher appreciates having a library on both sides of the highway, because the kids do not have to cross it to get a book. The libraries are repainted newspaper dispensers donated by the Grand Junction Sentinel and the Albuquerque Journal. The books are provided by the Building Communities that Support Children's Reading project, who get them from used book sales and community donations.
This project is courtesy of the Three Rivers Education Fountain. In addition to little libraries, this organization promotes reading through after-school tutoring. This past semester, 16 tutors have provided 74 students with 1,600 hours of after-school reading tutoring. They also do read-alongs, and give away books at school and community events. "So far this year, we have given out about 2,500 books in Montezuma County," said Brad Finch, the regional coordinator for Cortez, Dolores, and Silverton schools. He is the one who brought the Little Libraries into the area. The BCSCR is being funded through an $11.8-million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Education that serves 85 school districts in four states and 14 regions.
"Our project works to empower and expand the communities ability to embrace, encourage, and celebrate reading," said Finch, "so that all children grow up in an atmosphere that values reading and celebrates reading success".
More Little Libraries will be popping up around the area soon. The Mesa Elementary neighborhood will be decorating a box next week and placing it behind the school with the supervision of teacher Milinda Carr. There is one at the Piñon Project Tree House. Two boxes can be found in Towaoc, thanks to the Ute Mountain Education Center and the leadership of Tina King-Washington.
Multiple community members are placing boxes outside their homes - Jennifer Webber has placed one at 516 Arbecam Ave., and Jon Parker, who works with the Piñon Project, also has one in the works. The complete list of addresses and locations can be found at littlefreelibrary.org.