Kenwood’s National English Honors Society and a few Kenwood staff donated 100s of books to fill three tiny libraries Kenwood’s carpentry students built to place at three different schools in Baltimore County.
Students from the National English Honors Society advised by Ms. Blackert, came up with this idea two to three years ago during COVID. They wanted to give children the opportunity to read new books, so they set up tiny libraries at Victory Villa Elementary school, Middlesex Elementary school, and Middle River Middle school. The little libraries were built by Mr. Sin’s carpentry classes.
Each tiny library has about 100 books each. These books were donated from students and staff from Kenwood. Mr. Powell set funding for the National English Honors Society to complete this project with Kenwood’s own carpentry program building the tiny libraries.
Kenwood English Honor Society senior Glory who loves to read in her spare time adds, “It’s important to read. It helps in school, builds better vocab, kids learn more from books than they could with TV. I hope that kids read the books we’ve left for them.”
Tiny libraries help neighborhoods with limited book access, and it can improve literacy in children. With the libraries available it encourages children to read more. The libraries have an honor system; children must trust each other to return the books or replace the ones they want with another. This way the library will always be filled.
Children do not have a time limit to return books like regular libraries either, so kids can take as much time as they need to read the book. This can take stress off parents too regarding book return dates.
The hope is access to the books in the tiny libraries will encourage younger kids to find a love for reading. There are many reasons for kids to read in their free time. It helps with creativity, empathy, and improves concentration.
Anyone can agree that the tiny libraries are a wonderful thing to have in the area. The free libraries at schools are a stepping stone for easier learning in children’s future. It might be fun to visit the tiny free libraries with your little siblings too.
