Cottonwood Drive is future home for Coaldale’s Little Free Library

Doors open Wednesday, Sept. 6 in 6:30 p.m. ceremony

By Nikki Jamieson
Sunny South News

Book worms rejoice; Coaldale is getting a new library.
Coaldale’s very own little free library will be opening up on Cottonwood Drive on Wednesday, Sept. 6.
“A little free library is stocked with books, and when you need a new book, you can bring your old book and you can take a book and leave a book, just as simple as that,” said Brianne Simpson, chair of the Cottonwood Committee.
“It can be a kid book, it can be an adult book, it could be anything in between, just (as long as it’s) appropriate too.”
When the committee first set out to improve that spot, a library wasn’t originally in the plan.
Over the past several years, they had performed surveys to see what the residents of the neighbourhood wanted to see, and they got back responses such as benches and doggy-waste litter stations.
But it wasn’t until they started fundraising about a year ago, that they came upon the idea of a little free library.
“We thought it was such a good incentive, and everybody we would talk to was like, ‘Oh, we would love that, we would love to have that in our community’ and such.”
The committee had to register it with the Little Free Library website — littlefreelibrary.org — and another member of the committee, David Takeda, volunteered to build it.
Due to the costs involved, the submitted the little free library in with their request for funding for dog litter stations and benches to the Gord Laurie Foundation and to the Little Free Library.
The Gord Laurie Foundation gave them $5,000 for the project, and along with the $2,600 the committee had already raised, they were able to move forward with the project, which include the dog litter waste stations, benches and the little free library.
“It was much needed money from the foundation, instead of going years and years and years on with this,” said Simpson, adding they worked with the town to figure out were to best put it.
The little free library will be located off of Cottonwood drive between 22 Street and Elm Drive. The site is placed further back on the property, and connects to a walking trail located in the back of the property, and a path will be put in to connect it with the sidewalk.
“It kind of allows you to sit down in quiet and bring and read a book or go grab a new book or replace it with a new one.”
And patrons don’t have to worry about grabbing a soggy book.
The little free library will water-proof, and there will be a door on it to keep it’s contents same from the elements.
The Cottonwood Committee will also be in charge of the library’s upkeep, and have no plans on letting it fall to disrepair.
The Coaldale Library is also supporting the little free library, and have offered up books for it. However, this is a separate venture from the library.
The date of the little free library’s opening was planned so it would be open around the start of the school year.
“It just rings in a lot of kids are back at school, it’s back to the reading and the writing and all that, so it just brings in that extra added, to get a book to read.”
The little free library will open on Wednesday, Sept. 6, at 6:30 p.m. on Cottonwood Drive. Cupcakes and juice will be provided.
“It’s just a short little program, but it will be something to unveil it and thank the Gord Laurie Foundation for their donation.”