Students have no excuse to forgo reading this summer, thanks to three new little libraries installed outside Wea Ridge Elementary School. The project is the result of a SIA Foundation grant awarded to kindergarten teacher Michela Rieck. The small, enclosed bookshelves are stocked with donated books that families can take, enjoy and then return.

Students in art classes decorated the boxes and volunteers installed them around the outside of the school: one just east of the front entrance, a second west of the main entrance by the steps and the third on the backside of the school across from the staff parking lot. Rieck’s kindergarten class eagerly filled the boxes with a variety of books from “Violet the Pilot” to “Raccoon Magic for Kids.”

Rieck says the response has been very positive: “Teachers have told me that they are excited to spread the word to their families and show the children the Little Libraries. When taking kids to the bus, I heard first graders say, ‘Oh, look! It's a library,’ ‘I can't wait to get a book!’ I have also had teachers dedicate books to the Little Libraries for the future.”

The Little Libraries are designed to promote the importance of reading and foster a love of books for children that attend Wea Ridge and beyond. Rieck adds, “I hope that families come and look through the books to find something that they like and are able to learn and grow as readers.”