Good news for bookworms! The Rocks Village Memorial Association has begun a Little Free Library outside the historic local fire and meeting house, the Hand Tub House.
The project was brought to life by association members Jessica Todd, a Haverhill elementary school teacher, and her husband Alden Young, who constructed the library as a miniature replica of the Hand Tub House. They were aided in the effort by neighbors Heather McMann, a past board member and clerk of the Rocks Village Memorial Association and Association Vice President Lydia Harris, among others.
Todd shared her excitement for the new library, telling WHAV it will “be a great vehicle to help push Haverhill’s reading initiative forward.” The library is currently stocked with books the Bartlett educator has gathered from her years in the classroom.
Little Free Libraries are book exchanges where readers can get a new book by swapping one of theirs with one already in the library. The goal of the libraries is to foster community and love of reading.
The creators hope the library will help bolster the Haverhill Promise program, which strives to get all Haverhill Public Schools students reading at grade level by the end of third grade.
Similar libraries are set up across the city in the Haverhill Highlands neighborhood and in Bradford near Farrwood Drive, neighbors tell WHAV. Have your own little library to highlight? Email details to [email protected]!