New Little Free Library Features London Phone Booth Design in Carmel City Center
*CARMEL, IN – **The City of Carmel unveiled a unique new Little Free Library on Monday, August 13, featuring a replica of a London phone booth, retro-fitted with bookshelves that hold books for sharing; and two reading benches that resemble open books. You’ll find this literary place of rest and reading just west of the Monon Greenway in City Center, a little south of Center Green.
Ceremony Celebrates Literary Arts
Mayor Jim Brainard and Indiana’s own award-winning author James Alexander Thom placed the first group of books inside the Little Free Library after a short ceremony.
“We celebrate the arts in Carmel and this project represents the literary arts, generating a love of reading. We hope the community uses this free book exchange to encourage reading for years to come,” Mayor Brainard explained.
“It has been said that the problem with American cities is that there is no place to sit down. And sitting down is especially good if you have something to read,” said Thom, a New York Times bestselling author who writes historic fiction based on frontier and Indian wars history.
Community Partnership Brings Project to Life
The Little Free Library contains books that members of the public can freely share and donate. The City of Carmel, the Carmel Clay Public Library Foundation (CCPL), Anderson Birkla and SEP sponsored the project. Signworks, Inc., designed and built the structures.
The project took several months to complete and, with the continued assistance of city partners CCPL Foundation and SEP, the library will feature adult, young adult and children’s books. However, the public can also borrow and stock the shelves in support of this community endeavor.
Honoring Indiana Authors
The unique benches feature the following Indiana authors, as well as their books:
- James Alexander Thom – Follow the River
- Mari Evans – A Dark & Splendid Mass
- John Green – The Fault in our Stars
- Gene Stratton Porter – A Girl of the Limberlost
- Kurt Vonnegut – Complete Stories
- James Whitcomb Riley- Little Orphant Annie
Part of a Global Movement
Little Free Libraries exist in 85 countries around the world. The non-profit organization fosters a love of reading and inspires creativity by encouraging the creation of neighborhood book exchanges. Carmel hosts more than a dozen Little Free Libraries throughout the city, including some on school grounds and parkland as well as those that private citizens installed for public use. You can view locations of registered Little Free Libraries in Carmel on www.LittleFreeLibrary.org/ourmap
