Little Free Libraries
Rotary International is a community service organization that brings together likeminded selfless individuals around the globe to, according to their mission statement, “provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through our fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.” This non-profit consists of 1.2 million members in 195 countries, doing projects at every scale from local to global. To help do so, the organization is broken down into regions and clubs. The Wells family has given their time to the Park Ridge Club, one of 52 clubs in the Bergen, Passaic, & Hudson Counties Region.
Peter and Phil Wells have been involved with their local Rotary Club for many years, devoting much of their spare time to helping their community and the larger world through various service projects. One of those service projects was one that Peter found during a trip to Florida and returned home with the idea of implementing in his North Jersey town.
The Little Free Library is a worldwide phenomenon following the “take a book, leave a book” policy, developed by a member of the Rotary Club, Mr. Todd Bol. The concept is simple: construct an outdoor display case where the public has access to it, fill it with books, and let the people do the rest. It’s an honor system that has proven itself time and time again in a ton of different communities, and in many cases bringing readily available literature to areas that have never had access to books.
Peter and his wife Linda, who is also a Rotarian, decided that they’d give it a try in their own community. Since Peter’s home is close to a local school, the idea was that students and their parents would see their front yard library during their walks to and from school and pick up or drop off a book when they wanted. Within a year, Peter & Linda’s Little Free Library had grown to distribute over 300 books. While a major feat for general literacy and public cooperation, Peter was not satisfied with only bringing one of these libraries to life. Upon sharing the idea with family, he’s since helped construct 2 additional libraries, one for Peter’s brother in Bristol, VT and the other for their niece in Hudson, NY.
Talena Queen, an inspirational Paterson native, also liked the idea of introducing these public libraries into her community. Her conception of the idea got the ball rolling, but she needed help implementing it. Knowing what the Rotary Club was capable of, she reached out to the Paterson Club for support.
One thing led to another and the Park Ridge Rotarians soon assisted in the construction and installation of 15 Little Free Libraries for Paterson’s public park system. The interconnectedness of individual Rotary Clubs brought together the Paterson and Park Ridge Clubs where these selfless club members could help Talena Queen bring her dreams to life. Through the connection, Peter’s brother Tom even donated 20 sets of kid’s books to Paterson’s collections to help get them on their feet. After initial donations, however, it didn’t take long for Paterson’s residents to make these libraries their own.
Queen fought tooth and nail to convince the leaders of her community that these libraries were going to improve Paterson in wondrous ways, and that they have. According to this 2018 article in the Record, she said that people have come together to protect these libraries and restore them if they were ever vandalized. Her new goal is to put one of these libraries in each of Paterson’s 44 parks, a goal that seems realistic after the incredibly positive reception of the first 15. The impact that an individual can have, with the help of local organizations like Rotary, serves as an inspiration for community development and as a reminder of how big things can happen when people come together to support a common cause.