This little free library is just for kids

Little free libraries are joyful things, full of surprises for book lovers. Huntsville resident Janet McCormack thinks they are a wonderful idea, but she noticed something missing among the ones she’s come across: a little free library for kids.

So she enlisted her son, Terry, to build one, mounted it on a tree in front of her home, and filled it with books and games.

Inside each item is a note letting kids know they can return it or keep it, and maybe donate something they no longer use.

“The idea of calling it a library was to put something up that was familiar to people but I am not too concerned about the return part,” says McCormack. “I have loads more to fill it up.”

She loved playing board games as a kid and “wanted to share that love with the kids in Huntsville,” she says.

McCormack has been collecting kids books and games to use in her business, Affinity Consulting. “I work with kids with autism and other learning needs, helping them learn about their brain, how it works, what supports they need and then how to advocate for themselves. When you know what’s happening in your brain, what your thinking is, then you know how to alter your thinking if you need to… Then kids have a better chance to have their best days because they can figure out what they need.”

There’s lots to choose from in Janet McCormack’s little free library (Photo: Janet McCormack)

Each item includes a note about its return (or not)

McCormack has loads of books and about 400 board games that she uses for lessons. “You can learn so much [from games]—winning and losing and turn-taking and predicting and planning ahead and reading and math,” she says. The kids she works with can borrow games to take home, “and I thought, well, if the kids I work with are borrowing games, let’s let everybody borrow games.” She tries to keep a variety available in the library for all ages, from young children through teens.

The library is located at 14 Florence Street East. “I’m hoping if more people know about it, they will walk by and take something,” says McCormack. “I just want it to be available for kids.”

The library has been constructed to keep out the elements, and McCormack plans to keep it open year-round.

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