Did you know that one of the most successful ways to improve the reading achievement of children is to increase their access to books?  Accordingly, the Village of Wadsworth recently began participating in the world-renowned Little Free Library program, known for its book-sharing boxes.  The Little Free Library, a registered nonprofit organization that started 10 years ago in Hudson, WI, inspires a love of reading, builds community, and sparks creativity by fostering community book exchanges for readers of all ages and backgrounds.

So what is a Little Free Library?  In brief, a Little Free Library is a “take a book, return a book” free book exchange.  Yes, anyone may take a book or contribute a favorite book to share

with the Village community.  Truly, it’s that easy!   

If you do take a book (or two) from a Little Free Library box, then please know that you do not need to return that exact book.  However, in order to keep the Little Free Library box full of good choices for the whole community, please be respectful towards both the red book-sharing boxes and the donated books found within.  And, the next time that you swing by that Library, consider bringing a few interesting books to share.  As you can see, a Little Free Library book exchange functions on the honor system.  So, if everyone contributes, then there will always be quality books inside.  This way, the whole Village community wins!

In an effort to spark interest among Village residents to utilize our Little

Free Library book sharing program, copies of Chris Ballard’s novel, entitled “One Shot at Forever,” have been placed in both of our parks’ Libraries.  One theme that is explored in Chris’ nostalgic book is the nature of small town Illinois, as he describes the amazing run of the Macon (IL) High School’s baseball team to the Illinois State Finals in 1971.  Interestingly, this book has a connection to our own local area, and, if anyone can figure it out, a specific connection to Wadsworth.  When you are finished reading this delightful book, we kindly ask that you return the novel to one of our Little Free Libraries so as to allow others to enjoy this book as well.