Members of the Wayland High School National Honor Society have been tidying up the Little Free Libraries around the district this year for their community service project.

The mini-libraries have been described as looking like an old newspaper stand turned robot on a sidewalk in town or a birdhouse looking structure in someone’s yard. They are filled with books for all ages and best of all, they’re free for the community to take a book or donate books.

There are 30 of these Little Free Libraries from Dorr to Gun Lake in the Wayland Union School district

National Honor Society students have donated donated their time to help “freshen up” the libraries by organizing the books and cleaning out any older, worn books to be recycled. Volunteer service hours are a requirement for NHS students and this was a “COVID friendly” way to serve in the community.

Wayland Union Schools have worked with local residents, businesses, and community agencies to place these free lending libraries throughout the district for the past three years in an effort to increase access to books for students.

This “Building a Community of Readers” project was spearheaded by Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Teresa Fulk and has expanded across the district.  The Allegan County United Way renovated and donated newspaper stands to look like robots.  Residents have also built their own libraries, as well as the high school woodshop.