Last semester, student Sara Wilson opened on Anderson University’s campus a Little Free Library, created to be a location for students and community members to share and trade books. This little library was funded by the Student Government Association (SGA), with the books being provided by the community, and the library itself being built by Sara and her dad.
Sara Wilson is a sophomore and an elementary education major, with this being the second little library she has put up and the first being in Markleville. Before putting up her first little library, Sara visited many of these throughout her childhood all around her hometown area, which inspired her to make an impact and create her own. Since putting up the library at AU, Sara has stated that she has seen numerous people using it, both students and community members.
“Many were surprised to find out a student was behind this project,” said Sara.
The main inspiration behind her Little Libraries comes from wanting to give children in the community a free and local resource to get new books, with community impact being a major goal in the process. She stated that she prefers to place these in locations that don’t have anything similar nearby, giving more people access to books that they wouldn’t otherwise. Sara’s long term goal is to get eight more of these libraries built across Madison County, with the next one currently in progress.
If you are on Anderson’s campus and looking to drop off or pick up a new book, make sure to stop by outside Decker on College Drive and visit. Many students and community members have already visited and used the library numerous times, meaning this has been a big success for the campus.