Jennie Haas tends to sample the first few pages of a book — preferably a physical book with real paper pages — before she decides whether she’d like to keep reading.
“It has to catch me in the first six or seven pages,” she said.
Haas is among three stewards of a Little Free Library that’s now perched on the property of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Hermosa. Church Pastor Deb Grismer and Jamie Roder are the other stewards.
Roder started the process in motion.
“As an avid book reader myself, I wanted to begin the process to develop the love of reading in others,” she said. Roder said some research led her to a discovery of the Little Free Library, a nonprofit organization based in Hudson, Wisconsin, and designed to help expand book access to people throughout the world, according to the organization’s website.
People are also reading…
The Little Free Library stewards in Hermosa are planning a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 3 p.m. Sunday at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church at 386 Main St. Refreshments will include hot apple cider and hot chocolate, Grismer said. Miranda O’Bryan, who works with the social initiative called “Page Turners: Fall in Love with Reading” as part of her involvement with the Miss South Dakota organization, will be present at the ribbon-cutting, Grismer said.
So will Cali James, a Custer High School senior who will bring a therapy dog named Zippit.
“People can grab a book and sit and read to Zippit,” Grismer said.
Grismer said people who bring books to donate can participate in a prize drawing.
Grismer and Haas talked about the project on a recent morning at the church. Grismer said Roder applied to Little Free Library’s Impact Library program, designed to help rural and other sorts of neighborhoods where access to books might create a challenge.
The program enabled the group to receive the library structure and a box of books.
“We wanted to be able to get actual physical books in the hands of people,” Grismer said.
A map produced by Little Free Library reveals a number of other Little Free Library projects throughout the area. People can view the map at https://littlefreelibrary.org/ourmap/.
Grismer said people are invited simply to come and pick up a book, with no requirements.
“When you are done reading the book, there are no expectations, other than you cannot sell it,” she said. “It is yours to keep in your library, or you may pass it on to someone else.”
Both Grismer and Haas emphasized the importance of physical books.
“My first thought is that smells are so critical,” Haas said. “They release things in your brain. You grab a book and you flip those pages, and you get that whiff. You get the feeling in your hands. You’re physically there. Your eyes aren’t staring at a screen.”
Grismer, who used to teach preschool, thought about the effects of physical books on children.
“As a former educator, I would say that holding a book encompasses all learning styles,” she said.
Grismer emphasized the escape from blinking, humming screens.
“There are so many other things that take screen time, and our brains need a break from that,” she said.
Haas, who owns the Heartland Hair salon in Hermosa, said the salon would serve as a drop-off station for book donations.
“I have an office space,” she said. “We’re looking for a bookshelf, or a few bookcases, and I will store books there. As we see which books are being utilized, and being taken out of the library, then we will replace them accordingly.”
The group began the library, which has been up for a little more than a week, with a box of books from the Little Free Library organization. From now on they’re relying on book donations, including book swaps when people come to the library. But Grismer emphasized that no one who takes a book is expected to replace it with another.
Grismer and Haas said the range of books they welcome is wide, including fiction and nonfiction, books designed for children and books for adults. The group accepts book donations at Heartland Hair, at 300 E. Main St. in Hermosa, during business hours.