Little Free Libraries bring books, community to Long Islanders

Reading gives us someplace to go, when we have to stay where we are.

 — Mason Cooley

That quote sums up the inspiration for Marisa DeMartino's Little Free Library, a community bookcase where books are exchanged.

After seeing these little library boxes popping up around Long Island — there are currently 484 registered with the Little Free Library organization — DeMartino decided her Bethpage neighborhood could use one too.

With an assist from her dad, Vincent DeMartino, 56, she built the library and placed it in front of her home in November 2021 and began distributing books that were collecting dust in her attic.

"I just started it because I'm a very big reader," said DeMartino, 28, a registered nurse at Health Resources Optimization and Northwell Health/Long Island Jewish Medical Center.

As its slogan ("Take a book. Share a Book.") suggests, the Little Free Library organization aims to build community, inspire readers and expand book access.

"There are more than 150,000 registered Little Free Library book-sharing boxes worldwide, in all 50 states, 120 countries and seven continents," said Margret Aldrich, director of communications for the St. Paul, Minnesota-based non-profit. "Through them, over 300 million books have been shared since 2009."

I just started it because I'm a very big reader.

— Marisa DeMartino

Joanne Adam, director of the Huntington Public Library, expressed support for the community bookcase concept, particularly because it's an easy way to get books to people who may not be able to get to the public library.

"You don't need money or even a library card to take a book from a Little Free Library and you can keep the book for as long as you want without worrying that someone else is waiting for it," Adam said. "Having Little Free Libraries out in the community improves book access to everyone and highlights the importance of literacy."

Since she installed her petite library, which holds between 30 and 40 books, DeMartino said it's been a big hit in her neighborhood.

"When I started it, I put all my books in there and I don't think I have one book left in there that's mine," said DeMartino, adding that people often leave notes of appreciation to her.

Location, location, location

When she decided to open a little library in November 2018 in her hometown of Wyandanch, Laurie Farber opted to place it in front of a medical building on Straight Path in the commercial district.

"I wanted it in a place where it would be more used," said Farber, 68, executive director of Starflower Experiences, an educational organization based in Huntington. "The other advantage to me is since I go to the pharmacy fairly often, I get to check on it a lot," she said, referring to the pharmacy in the medical building.

Securing permission from the buildings' owners — a doctor and a pharmacist — Farber agreed to plant irises, daffodils and coneflowers around the post.

Farber's outpost has been a hit, both for children and adults, as attested to by the need for Farber to replace the books every couple of weeks.

"[But] I have no idea who's taking the books," she said.

For the love of reading

I just go out in the morning and there are new books sometimes.

— Claudia Mingen

While visiting her son, Ryan, in Virginia Beach in the summer of 2018, Claudia Mingen noticed a Little Free Library near the public beach.

"I thought, 'What a great idea: You go up to the beach and you can borrow a book and sit at the beach and read and then put it back,'" said Mingen, 70, a retired teacher who lives in Huntington.

Taken by his mom's enthusiasm for the concept, Ryan surprised her the following Christmas with a library of her very own, finishing it off with the same Wedgewood gray paint used on the home's exterior, so that the mini-home for books matches the larger Colonial.

"He's a very good builder and he likes to build things," Mingen explained. "I was a literacy coordinator, so he knows I love books and reading."

In the beginning, Mingen would supplement books she'd already read with ones she'd find at yard sales and thrift shops, but hasn't had to furnish any in a long time.

"I've been very lucky that I've had a very nice steady supply that people have been donating. I don't even know who they come from. I just go out in the morning and there are new books sometimes,"  Mingen said, adding that people sometimes leave notes in the guest book she keeps in the bookcase.

With her house across the street from an elementary school, Mingen assumed the students there would use her library more, "but we haven't had as much turnover with kids," she said.

Modern mobile library

... I started to think that after school, people stop reading when books aren't so available to you.

— Randee Bonagura

Randee Bonagura recalled the book mobile that would appear like clockwork every other week in her Farmingdale neighborhood when she was growing up.

"My favorite thing was to be on the corner waiting for the bookmobile so I could get new books,'' she said. ''It was right there on your block. The Little Free Library is not a bookmobile, but it's books right in your neighborhood that you can visit any time to take a book or leave a book."

About five years ago, Bonagura placed her library in front of her Massapequa home, painting it to resemble the popular "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" children's book.

"It's bright pink and it has a palm tree on the side," said Bonagura, 49, principal of Wantagh Elementary School.

With a doctorate in literacy, Bonagura said everything she does aims to give people access to books and literature, especially adults.

"A lot of kids in our neighborhood do have a lot of access to books in their school library. And then I started to think that after school, people stop reading when books aren't so available to you.

And I was hoping some adults out for a walk would consider it a library coming to them."

In addition to children's and adults books, Bonagura initially hung a hook with a container of dog biscuits, "so people walking their dogs noticed it and would come and browse the books and give their dogs a treat, also, and they would come back."

The dog biscuit hook has since broken off, but Bonagura tries new things, like adding seasonal bookmarks and Beanie Babies, which could serve as reading buddies.

"People come almost every single day — kids and adults — add books to it, take books, return books they read, stock it with some new ones," said Bonagura, who notes that people have also left painted rocks and knickknacks she leaves for others to take.

Creating community

My idea was to get children involved in books.

— Marcia Morgan

Marcia Morgan, 69, of Elmont, decided to install her library five years ago to counter what she believes is a decline in reading due to people's reliance on electronics.

"My idea was to get children involved in books," said Morgan, a newly retired speech therapist. She enlisted her husband, Leonard, 83, a retired goldsmith, and a carpenter friend to build it and paint it primary colors to attract kids.

After stocking it with an assortment of books for all ages, including bibles and other Christian books, Morgan has since added a Koran and Arabic dictionary to include as many people as possible in her diverse community.

"What I noticed is that everybody's participating," said Morgan, noting that during the pandemic, people often gathered daily at her library outpost.

"I have so many books now. The thing is that they're not leaving as quickly as they're coming in," she said, adding that books she cannot use she sends to a friend in her native Jamaica to read to schoolchildren and distribute through the local Red Cross.

If people happen to visit the library when she's home, Morgan goes out to chat with them and let them know what kinds of books she's looking for and what she definitely doesn't want, like the copy of "Fifty Shades of Grey" that mysteriously appeared one day.