Southeast Wichita now has 26 new Little Free Libraries, scattered across City Council District III, each one decorated after a letter of the alphabet. The project was unveiled on March 23 in a ceremony in front of one of the library boxes at Lincoln Park on South Topeka Street.
The Little Free Libraries are part of a project to help kids in low literacy areas have better access to books and tools and resources to explore reading at home.
“All children aged five and under deserve access to reading materials that ignite joy for learning and early learning skills,” said Larry Daniels, Program Manager for the Wichita Literacy Coalition.
Each of the 26 Little Free Libraries are housed in a box mounted to a pole cut to easily accessible height from retired power poles donated by Evergy. Inside are free books for early learners, provided by the library and community partners.
Most of the free libraries are in public places like schools, fire stations, parks and public serving facilities. A printable and interactive map of library locations can be found at bit.ly/3TZ3cN1
Everyone is welcome to use the Little Free Libraries and share the books forward.
For the southeast Wichita project, Wichita State University Engineering students created an audio component. When the door opens, the audio plays the sounds of the letters of the alphabet.
“Strategic investments in family engagement and early literacy efforts are critical as new parents learn about the library and the multitude of ways the library and community partners collaborate to help them raise a reader,” said Jaime Nix, Director of Libraries. “We want to make sure Wichita’s parents and caregivers are aware of how the Wichita Public Library can help and how we can connect them to additional resources at their neighborhood branch.
In addition to Evergy, other partners in the southeast project include Hutton Construction, Wichita Public Library Foundation, Wichita State University Engineering and CityArts.