Community Partners Continued INFO 298 Special Studies Blog Post 2

Over the past few weeks, I have learned to expand my definition of community partners.
Initially, under community partners I had listed civic groups such as Girl Scouts,
Rotary, and school PTO. What I did not realize is that individuals can also be powerful
community partners. Since my last blog post, I have had the privilege of conversing
with three individuals who have successfully set up little free libraries. Since Connecticut
is still under quarantine for COVID-19, we have communicated electronically.
We have exchanged emails, and I also developed a survey for these library stewards
to answer. These women have been a gold mine of information about the little free
library experience. One person has already set up six little free libraries in memory
of her daughter. 

I will continue to seek guidance from these experienced people on the best place
to locate a little free library box within the Quaker Hill neighborhood, and
importantly, obtaining permission to do so. Littlefreelibrary.org and the people
I consulted recommend placing a library box in a location that gets a lot of foot traffic.
In addition, it is essential that the location is safe from car traffic, or any other hazards.
The easiest solution is to place the box in a location where no permission is needed,
i.e. one’s own property. Alas, there is no sidewalk near my home, which means
no foot traffic and no protection from cars.

Conventional community partners are also getting involved! Girl Scouts of
Connecticut offered to post the project on their leaders’ facebook page. This
spreads the word about the little free library project so that if troop leaders in the
area want to participate, they can get in touch with me. I also happened to be volunteering
with a couple of Boy Scout moms recently. I shared the little free library idea with them,
and their packs might interested in helping with aspects of the Quaker Hill project. 

The next steps are to find a suitable location, get permission to place the box, and
obtain funding for the materials. With the help of the experienced library stewards,
I will learn how to approach property owners, or town agencies, about placing a library
box. There are various organizations that might be willing to fund the project:
Rotary of Waterford, The Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, local
private schools. It is a matter of presenting the project and the estimated costs
to the funders. This little free library will bring individuals and local groups together
in a true community project.