FWCD’s Little Free Library
What do Melissa Grey, Rick Riordan, John Grisham, Jenna Evans Welch, Samantha Mabry, and Arwen Elys Dayton have in common? They are all authors featured in the FWCD Little Free Library stationed on the second floor of the Mason Middle School between the original building and the expansion. Middle School Librarian Kim Gardner got the idea to bring a Little Free Library to the campus when she saw one in her neighborhood. That sparked a conversation in a Library Department meeting where Gardner, Tammy Wolford, Head Librarian, Lower School Library, and Perry and Nancy Lee Bass Distinguished Teaching Chair in Lower School; Sarah Blan, Upper School Librarian; and Melissa Hickman, Library Assistant, reminisce about the “good ol’ days” of the Book Mobile. Why not create a mobile library for Fort Worth Country Day and enlist the help of Clovis Murphree, Plant Operations Maintenance Supervisor?
She purchased a two-story modern library kit from littlefreelibrary.org, charter no. 96637 in January … of 2020. By the time it arrived, COVID-19 protocols were in full force, and libraries around the world were closed. When they did re-open, circulation was minimal and required books to be quarantined for a period of time following any use.
In anticipation of getting this Little Free Library up and running, Gardner reached out to Murphree to assemble the kit and build a solid foundation. True to form, Murphree added some special touches: He found an intricate stair rail and used that to support the library structure and purchased shelf brackets to hold the rail in place. The pièce de résistance? Murphree created a base on wheels so the library is mobile. After the build, he asked Sheila Cherry, Plant Operations, to paint the library in Falcon blue. Gardner added books, and it was placed in the Middle School for seventh- and eighth-graders.
“I chose seventh- and eighth-graders because they do not visit the Moncrief Library as much as the younger students do because of their commitments to the arts and athletics,” Gardner said. “I wanted to be sure that books are always accessible to them. I know some are being taken because they are shifting around on the Little Free Library’s shelves. This makes me happy.
Overall, my goal is to remind students that reading is fun, it’s relaxing, and can be a stress release for so many,” Gardner continued. “Reading is a lifestyle.”
As a librarian, Gardner reads a lot for work, but she also gives her out-of-work time to books. She is a book reviewer for School Library Journal, reading and reviewing middle-grade fiction and nonfiction for the past two years. “I knew that I could easily help by writing reviews,” Gardner noted. “I often choose a book based on real people's recommendations and thoughts, so writing reviews is a good way to give back.”
Gardner is currently reading The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune for personal enjoyment and The Deepest South of All: True Stories from Natchez, Mississippi and Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar for work.
What are you and your students reading? Not sure where to start? Check out the newest books in the Moncrief or reach out to any one of FWCD’s Librarians for ideas.
