Local

Black History Month reading at Youngstown’s Little Free Libraries

By Mahoning Matters staff
Volunteers take books to stock Little Free Libraries in Youngstown. From left are Aundrea Cika Heschmeyer; Josh Prest, Rotary Club of Youngstown president; Samantha Turner, the Rotary Club’s immediate past president; Derrick McDowell; Elayne Bozick; and Debora Flora.
Volunteers take books to stock Little Free Libraries in Youngstown. From left are Aundrea Cika Heschmeyer; Josh Prest, Rotary Club of Youngstown president; Samantha Turner, the Rotary Club’s immediate past president; Derrick McDowell; Elayne Bozick; and Debora Flora. (Photo provided)
YOUNGSTOWN

The Rotary Club of Youngstown is observing Black History Month by stocking many of the Little Free Libraries in the city with books that reflect reading diversity.

The organization purchased new books with the assistance of the Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County. The PLYMC also donated gently used books, and other books were donated by the public, a news release states.

The locations that were stocked:

  • Downtown: Wean Park and 20 Federal Place;
  • North Side: Wick Park, Jewish Community Center of Youngstown, private residences on Fairgreen and Fifth avenues, and on Cordova Avenue across from Harding Elementary School;
  • West Side: Calvin Center on Mahoning Avenue, Rocky Ridge Neighbors garden, 100 block of South Hazelwood Avenue and a private residence on Ridgelawn Avenue;
  • East Side: YMHA Rockford Village, Dogwood Lane and Give the Children a Chance Pavilion on South Truesdale Avenue;
  • South Side: Oak Hill Collaborative; South Side Academy and Boys & Girls Clubs of Youngstown.

The Little Free Libraries are wooden boxes that are mounted on posts and filled with books. The Rotary Club of Youngstown launched the “take a book, share a book” project in 2014.

“RCY took on the project with the goal of creating neighborhood gathering places in order to foster relationships and support literacy,” Elayne Bozick, chair of the Little Free Library project for the Rotary Club of Youngstown, said in the release.