The new Little Free Library is inside the first floor of the Rankin House. From left are Dr. Michael Bodary, assistant professor of English, and students Ryan Barker, Matthew Pierce and Madilyn Elliott.
Tusculum College is opening a new reading resource on the Greeneville campus for both the students and the community. Sponsored by the English honor society Sigma Tau Delta, the Little Free Library of Tusculum College is located on the first floor of Rankin House.
“This is an additional resource intended to foster leisure reading,” said Dr. Michael Bodary, assistant professor of English. Our hope is that it will provide an avenue for students, faculty, staff and the people of Greeneville to freely and easily share top-shelf books—good stories that can stir the imagination—with one another.”
Little Free Libraries can be found across the country, sprouting up through the generosity, commitment and creativity of those who support a free, unrestricted exchange of books. Using the Little Free Library at Tusculum College does not require a membership card, and it is open to everyone in the community. There are no due dates or late charges. It operates on the honor system and a “take a book, leave a book” exchange concept, although people who do not have a book to leave can always borrow a book and bring it back.
People can donate as well; however, as the library is very small, the focus for the library is on the quality of the books it offers—not the quantity. Like most higher education institutes, Tusculum College’s Garland library’s vast collection is focused on academia, research materials and literary documents.
According to Dr. Bodary, “We’re not competing with the historic, vastly larger academic library already on campus. The Little Free Library is focused on having a small and mostly fiction-based selection for pleasure reading.”
The exchanging of books will keep a variety of genres present for every reader to enjoy, from mysteries to science fiction to romance.
“We hope students will take books, but also replace them with others they are willing to share with other users of the library,” said Ryan Barker, a senior history and creative writing major from Laurens, S.C. “If we can encourage this, we will always have fresh selections.”