Little Free Libraries materialize in Cape

The Little Free Library movement is alive and well in Cape Girardeau.

On Sunday, a new box was dedicated along Frederick Street between William and Good Hope streets, and another officially will open outside the Cape Girardeau Police Department at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Lt. Brad Smith, the officer who worked to get the new box of free books installed outside his workplace, is from Iowa, where Little Free Libraries are plentiful.

"I just want to make it accessible to the community, with no strings attached," he said.

The police-station library is designed to resemble the TARDIS, a time-traveling spaceship from the television show "Doctor Who."

When Smith mentioned wanting to place one near the station, Carol Childers, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Missouri, jumped in to help find a donor.

"We have an amazing community," she said.

If someone decides to borrow a book from the box, he or she can keep it or bring it back without worrying about late fees or being able to make it to an actual library.

Time isn't a factor, either.

"It's never locked," Smith said, and he's collecting plenty of books to keep a steady inventory for passersby along Sprigg Street.

Meanwhile, the Authentic Voices group in South Cape just dedicated a Little Free Library over the weekend.

Melissa Stickel, a member of the grassroots community development group, said she would like to see many more boxes spring up around town.

"I don't want to put a limit on the number, but I think it would be nice to see a dozen of them in the community," she said.

Next to the Frederick Street box, which sits by St. Mary's School downtown, a metal bench has been installed so patrons can choose a book, then plop down and read awhile.

"We hope all of ours have benches," Stickel said.

Then Stickel found out Childers and Smith were working on a box, too.

Because Authentic Voices has an extra bench and Boys & Girls Clubs has an extra box, the idea is to raise money to place another free mini-library in the South Cape area, somewhere beyond Highway 74.

The Southeast Missourian also plans to give organizers one or two old newspaper vending machines, which can be repurposed as Little Free Libraries.

"It's really about just doing these little positive things in the community," Stickel said.

For Childers' part, she said she's hoping children and adults can use the mini-libraries to access books they might not get to read otherwise.

"The end result will be to get more books into the hands of children who might not have a library card," she said.

The only other box Childers knew of in town is the one inside John's Pharmacy along Independence Street.

In 2009, the Little Free Library movement began when a Wisconsin man built a model of a one-room schoolhouse and mounted it on a post in his front yard. He filled it with books, and eventually Little Free Libraries began popping up all over the country.

ljones@semissourian.com

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