Jackson State University News January 20, 2015 Kids — and adults! — to have ‘Little Free Library’ with JSU’s help The JSU Center for University-Based Development (CUBD) is planning a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a “Little Free Library” for kids at 1 p.m. on Jan. 27. To be located at the e-City Center on the corner of Dalton Street and Walter Payton Drive, the structure is part of a national and worldwide effort to provide free books, according to Heather Wilcox, CUBD’s Neighborhood Development manager. While the location is aimed at providing free books for Blackburn Middle School students, it’s not limited to kids, Wilcox said. Rather, it’s a “take a book, return a book” gathering place for people of all ages to share their favorite literature and stories. The concept began in 2009 when Todd Bol of Hudson, Wis., built a small model of a one-room schoolhouse as a tribute to his mother, a former school teacher who loved reading. He filled it with books and put it on a post in his front yard. His neighbors and friends loved it. He built several more and gave them away. Each one had a sign that read “free books.” It rapidly grew from there, with the University of Wisconsin-Madison adopting the idea. It became a nonprofit in 2012 and now more than 15,000 Little Free Libraries have been built — in different sizes and shapes. This structure will be the third in Jackson — the others are in Fondren and Belhaven. “This is the first in West Jackson,” Wilcox said. Others are planned. At the ceremony, members of the Call Me Mister organization will read to children, she said. Refreshments will be provided. The event is sponsored by CUBD with book donations by the Jackson State University Mississippi Learning Institute, the Interdisciplinary Alcohol and Drug Studies Center and the College of Education & Human Development. For more information, or to donate books, call Wilcox at 601-979-5828. For more info about the national program, see: http://littlefreelibrary.org. [LittleFreeLibraryArt] SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.