NORTHAMPTON – Members of the Northampton Kiwanis Club installed three “Little Free Libraries” at two of the city’s public housing developments – Florence Heights and Hampshire Heights.  

Maggie Gruszecki, the chair of this project and a former schoolteacher in Springfield, told Reminder Publishing that she used to run a reading group at one of the schools she worked at for students who were performing under their grade level. While spearheading this, Gruszecki discovered that many students in Springfield had never owned a book.  

“That was really sad to me,” said Gruszecki. “If you can’t read well, you can’t perform well in school and be successful.” The former teacher presented the Little Free Libraries idea to the Kiwanis Club – a club of which she is currently a part as an immediate past president – as a result of what she was noticing while teaching.  

“I just felt sad that so many children don’t own books, or don’t have access to books, or can’t afford books,” said Gruszecki. “It’s just a wonderful thing; reading.”

The Northampton Kiwanis Club is a part of Kiwanis International, which is a group of local clubs that focus on community service and keeping children safe through myriad of projects that give back. Past initiatives within the club have included assembling Early Childhood Safety Kits for new mothers with Northampton High School Key Club members and providing backpacks and school supplies to Northampton middle and elementary schools.

“Our mission is to support children all around the world,” said Gruszecki. “So, that’s what’s gotten me on this kick.”

With the Little Free Libraries project, people are allowed to place books inside of the little library – which mimics the look of a mailbox – and people come by to take these books if they are interested or in need of them. “It’s just this give-or-take,” said Mollie Hartford-Chamberland, a club board member and public relations chair. “Anybody can walk by, take a book, leave a book, anything.”

According to Hartford-Chamberland, the club conducted a book/recycling drive earlier in the spring where members worked with the Key Club to put children’s books aside for the Little Free Libraries and donated the adult books to the bigger library. The books set aside for the Little Free Libraries were almost gone within a week at the Hampshire Heights location, according to Gruszecki.  

Hartford-Chamberland noted that the Hampshire Heights and Florence Heights public housing were good locations for the libraries because low-income families reside in these areas. “Those are the kiddos who might not be able to go to the bookstore and buy a book, or maybe they don’t have transportation to the library to go and borrow books.” said Hartford-Chamberland. “So, this way, these books are literally in their backyard. They can go and take them…they can read different ones and put them back. [The libraries] can be a really sharing thing for the community and also to make sure kids have books in their hands.”

Because there is a such a high demand for children’s books from these libraries, both Gruszecki and Hartford-Chamberland are envisioning more locations with Little Free Libraries. Gruszecki specifically said that she wants to talk to the city’s Parks and Recreation Department to see if these libraries can be installed in parks across Northampton. Hartford-Chamberland also added that the club may look into working with other places within the community, like libraries and schools. For now though, the plan is to find more children’s books. Gruszecki is asking people to contact her if they have children’s books they would like to donate. People can give can call her at 883-2307.