It’s only been a month since Ellie Black’s “Little Library” was installed at the playground at Byrd Park, but in that short time, vandals have damaged the book box three times, tearing off the door twice and smashing the glass at least once.
Each time, the town has repaired and reinforced it, and it will continue to do so, Mayor Charlie Dorman said.
“Of course, we’re going to keep fixing it,” he said. “And we’d like everyone’s help watching over it.”
Installed in April, Black’s little library stands about four feet tall, is painted bright blue and has a shingled roof with a glass-paned door and a latch. Black, a fourth-grade student at Snow Hill Middle School, built the library on the weekends with her father, Brent Black, over a period of two months.
The idea came from a news report the fourth-grader saw describing the “Little Free Library” movement started in 2010. Black’s project is unaffiliated with the larger program, but last week the town unveiled its own officially recognized Little Free Library at the Laundromat on Market Street. My’Jae Waters, a first-grader at Snow Hill Elementary School, was designated the “official librarian” of that effort.
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What did they expect when they put it in Byrd Park?
ReplyDeletetear it up in the little hood.
ReplyDeletePut out some hunting cameras and catch the little thugs.
ReplyDelete1:50 beat me to it! Yes, hunting cameras.
ReplyDeleteByrd Park runs right up against the slummy section of town.Cameras are the only way to stop this mess.The people who vandalize this box might be jealous because they can't read!
ReplyDeleteIt's called envy. Here's how it goes: "If I can't have it, nobody can have it."
ReplyDeleteAnd it's a reaction to the fact that civilization and a desire for literacy creep into their neighborhood to replace the chaos, illiteracy, and ignorance that they control and capitalize on.
Eventually, these little twerps will see that the caretakers are going to outlast them and put the library right after each time it's assaulted.
6:29 PM - Amen!
ReplyDeleteAgreed!
ReplyDeleteYou all remember the bumper sticker. My kid can beat up your honor student.
ReplyDeleteWe aren't all equal no matter what the color.
and some of us sure resent it.
It's so great that a child cares about literacy and sees the big picture...this is about making it easier for a kid to call a book their own and this is about anyone having easy access to books. The vandals could be any race, age, or motivation. The vandals could be bored or intoxicated. The vandals may not be making an intentional statement at all...it may be just plain old destructive behavior. Let Snow Hill be above drawing conclusions that "that side of town" is against literacy. Bad behavior is bad behavior. An ass is an ass.
ReplyDeleteSeveral things:
ReplyDeleteAt this point no one knows who is messing up Ellie's little library, but people are quite willing to jump to the conclusion that "they" namely the people who live in the "slummy" neighborhood of Snow Hill are responsible.
Yes, the people who live in the Dighton Avenue area of Snow Hill have less in terms of money, but I can think of a couple of families that I know personally that I would put up against Snow Hill's "finest" (whatever that means).
Snow Hill has a problem bigger than Ellie's little library. Just look at the wonderful and generous fireworks display for Fourth of July each year. It is lily white at Sturgis Park and mostly African American at Byrd park. After all this time look how little progress we've made in respecting people who are different than we are.
Ellie's little library is a step in the right direction. I intend to support it, and I want to thank Ellie and her family for making a generous effort. Perhaps some of the other posters here could come up with some positive initiatives, rather than looking down their noses and making negative comments.