Students open Little Free Library in Statesboro coffee shop

May 6, 2016

Members of the Georgia Southern University chapter of Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society have partnered with Three Tree Coffee Roasters to open a Little Free Library in Statesboro.

Lydia Biggs, senior English major and president of the University chapter of the honor society, was taking suggestions for a community service project for the spring semester when one of their members brought to their attention the Little Free Library project.

“In the past we have done projects such as reading in the after-school programs for kids, donating books to the women and children’s center and the local prisons,” Biggs said. “This year we focused on the Little Free Library project.”

The organization began with a book drive and eventually accumulated enough donated books to fill two Little Free Libraries. Members of Sigma Tau Delta encouraged everyone in the community to donate and even offered a raffle and prizes for those who participated.

Once the books were collected, the organization decided to partner with local business Three Tree Coffee Roasters to host their new Little Free Library.

“Since it just opened, I knew Three Tree was a hotspot for students,” Amanda Gilbert, English major and co-president and treasurer of Sigma Tau Delta, said. “In the top of the coffee shop there is an area called the ‘treehouse.’ It’s a really relaxing area, and we figured people would be likely to pick up a book and read it there.”

The organization plans to christen their Little Free Library with an official plaque this month.

“The plaque gives us a Little Free Library identification number, and if people are familiar with the Little Free Libraries, they can search on the website, and the one at Three Tree will pop up,” Gilbert said.

“It’s a really sustainable project,” Gilbert said. “It gives people a place to donate old books instead of throwing them out. I also like that Little Free Libraries are really creative.”

About the Little Free Library:

The Little Free Library initiative came about in 2009 after Todd Bol of Hudson, WI built a small model schoolhouse in his neighborhood and filled it with books. He included a sign that read “FREE BOOKS.” Bol later partnered with Rick Brooks, Outreach Program Manager at the University of Wisconsin, to grow the initiative as a means of spreading reading throughout the nation. https://littlefreelibrary.org/about/