UPDATED: A free, standing library now adds some educational recreation near the Herbert Road entrance of Magnolia Park, in East Arlington.
The small box of books available to the public -- part of a growing trend in town -- is a gift from Bill and Debra Ingols of Conneautville, Pa., whose son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter live near the park.
Debra designed the library, which is about the size of a large bird house, and brightened it with house paint. The donors were present during the installation July 6 by Peter Hedlund, Jon Marshall and Don Vitters, with help from several children.
Hedlund is in charge of the Hedlund Design Group, which shaped the new Magnolia Park that opened June 17. Marshall is the head of town recreation, and Vitters is a longtime member of the Parks and Recreation Commission.
Take and give
"Take a book -- return a book," says a plaque on the small roof. The Magnolia library is at a height aimed to enable access for young children and those in wheelchairs.
Initially populated with children's books, the library drew its first few potential borrowers before the donors left the park.
The diminutive purveyors of literary simplicity are welcome in places public and private, as a look around Arlington shows.
The Little Free Library is a nonprofit based in Wisconsin aimed at encouraging reading and building community. Find out more about it >>
Photos show how book box was installed >>
A far-from-definitive search around town finds these small boxes of intelligence showing up in the following spots (if you know of others, let the publisher know the location here >>):
-- 255 Washington St., where one of the books available was The Black Stallion Mystery by Walter Farley;
-- 553 Summer St., at Newland Road, where you could get Tom Clancy's EndWar: The Hunted;
-- 69 Webcowet Road has had a library box for more than two years, a neighbor says;
-- in Menotomy Rocks Park (with a high reach); and
-- in the neighborhood near Thorndike Park.
Find others here >>
Remember: If you take a book, put one in its place ....
This news story was published Tuesday, July 11, 2017, and updated, to add a location.
