Like the previous year’s Making and Sharing/”Creativity in a Box” project, this was funded by the Arizona State Library, Archives & Public Records, a division of the Secretary of State, with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, through a grant that I wrote in partnership with our county library district.

The Free Book Box project is a variation on the “little free library” idea, except that our boxes are quite large and institutionally supported and maintained. Each box is approximately the size of a bathtub and holds about 150 books.

The idea for this came in part when our county’s book mobile had to cease operations. (It’s important to note, though, that these boxes in no way replace the book mobile.)

Our county is quite large (4 million acres or 6,219 square miles with a population of approximately 130,000) and has a number of rural communities that don’t have their own libraries. So we decided to install ten Free Book Boxes in the more rural parts of the county to enhance community access to books and reading materials, with each box housing a rotating selection of books for adults and children, in English and Spanish. One other difference with our boxes is that, while users are welcome to return or donate books, they don’t have to — all the books are free for the taking. Patrons are also invited to request books through comment cards in the boxes, though they aren’t “held” for specific individuals when they are added to the box.

Partnerships are a key part of this project. Partners have included the library system and various branches, schools, community organizations, and local businesses. For each box, we sought a community partner to help host, monitor, and stock the box, which was an important part of our sustainability plan. (We have hosts in place for some but not all the boxes.) In addition, we have had community artists paint each of the boxes.

The books for these boxes have come from a variety of sources. Some have been purchased (this was included in our grant), but we have also received tremendous donations. These have come from sources such as our libraries (discards, patron donations), Friends of the Library groups, a local college, and community members who have added books to the boxes. Again, this is going to be a key to the project’s sustainability.

As of today, we have installed seven of the ten boxes, and the others will be installed soon. The reception of this work in the community has been incredibly positive.

To date, we have distributed over 1,000 books with a goal to distribute over 3,000 in the first year.

This has been my favorite project of 2017, and I have every confidence that this work will continue long after the grant has ended.

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I’m in the midst of writing a grant for a new project that I’m really excited about. It’s for a local, cross-generational maker project based at our library.

Here’s a brief description:

Let’s Make: Creativity in a Box!

The goal of this project is to develop a series of “maker” activities and events that empower learners to be at the center of their own learning and to develop critical thinking, collaboration, communication, design thinking, self-direction, and academic mindset skills.

Funds will be used to develop a series of maker activities; to purchase maker supplies; to host a series of maker day events with partners; to develop maker activity boxes that can be checked out; and to create and host an online collection of maker activities on a community collaboration site.

Community members will benefit through the application of these skills to a variety of academic and professional pursuits, as well as the fostering of a cross-generational learning community.

I couldn’t be more excited. A few things I really love about this project are that it is local (a goal of mine has been to do some work like this in my own area, instead of having to fly somewhere to do it); it invites folks of all ages to participate; and I think it is sustainable.

At the core of this project are a series of “creativity in a box” maker kits that can be checked out from the library. These could include things like paper circuitry, windowsill gardens, digital movie making, brush bots, and more — with all the materials included.

This will be supplemented by a series of face-to-face workshops, some at schools and others at the library and with other community partners. The project will also have an online community component that anyone can participate in free of charge.

I hope this project will be a launching pad for other similar work. I’ll share more as it develops.

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