Lil’ free library launches

The city has its first ‘Little Free Library’, (LFL), thanks to the efforts of the Social Activism Club, (SAC), at the Yorkton Regional High School.

“The first Little Free Library was built in 2009 by Todd Bol in Hudson, Wisconsin. He mounted a wooden container designed to look like a one-room schoolhouse on a post on his lawn and filled it with books as a tribute to his mother, who was a book lover and school teacher. Bol shared his idea with his partner, Rick Brooks, and the idea spread rapidly, soon becoming a ‘global sensation’,” explained Jordan Stewart a member of the SAC at the unveiling of the LFL on Jun. 7.

“The Little Free Library soon became a non-profit organization and currently there are more than 70,000 registered Little Free Library book-sharing boxes in 85 countries worldwide. It is our goal to become one of the registered libraries with theorganization,” continued Andy Mclennar, also with the SAC.

With the template in place, the school group decided to take a LFL on as a project, said Katya Andersen, with the SAC.

“The Social Activism Club at the YRHS was inspired by Todd Bol and when we researched the various kinds of little libraries online we decided to create and build our own Lil’ Library for the city of Yorkton,” she said.

The project is not just for the school, noted SAC member Madeline Benneve.

“This library is not a YRHS library, it is a Yorkton Library. Anyone passing by can take a book to read or leave one for someone else to find. The intention is to get the community and neighbourhood involved, to encourage a love for reading and to be inspired by it, and to inspire creativity. The goal is to unite the community through literature, just like it brought our group together and made our bond stronger,” she said during the unveiling.

“By building this library we are hoping to inspire our amazing community and to start a chain reaction in the hopes that more Lil’ Free Libraries will be built in Yorkton, and other communities,” continued Payton Corkum.

The SAC built the small library box, located in the school parking lot along Gladstone Ave, with the help of teacher Andrew Pearce, explained Kira Ring of the SAC.