Magic behind little libraries

Book Lady makes volunteer work a full-time job

By ANNA MITCHELL
anna@readthereporter.com

Colleen Sommer started her Little Free Library journey in 2019 when her neighbor Cliff Bennett said he needed help stocking books. Bennett sponsored Inlow Park, taking care of the Little Free Libraries in that location, and Sommer was happy to help.

Already a big garage saler, Sommer said she collected around 1,000 books for Bennett that summer. She has gone as far as Kokomo to buy books.

During COVID-19, the main libraries closed, so the libraries and the Park Supervisor asked Bennett and Sommer to supply books for all the Little Libraries in the park district. They agreed, and Bennett took Carmel while Sommer took Fishers.

Unfortunately, Bennet grew very ill and passed away in 2023. Sommer transitioned to work in Carmel, picking up where he left off.

Now, Sommer takes care of 13 little libraries in Hamilton County. She stocks them with books, cleans them, repairs them, and even puts in little trinkets for the children.

“I enjoy doing it,” Sommer said. “Once I got into it, I didn’t realize how much fun it was to do it and how happy it makes me feel to see the children come running up to the box and how sad it makes me feel when I come up and there’s nothing in the box.”

But Sommer struggled to keep up with stocking all the libraries by herself.

Three years ago, she discovered the Indy Book Project, located out of Zionsville (indybookproject.org). Sommer fills out a form and they give her 500 books. She is thankful for their support and said that she could not have kept up the Little Free Libraries without their help.

Unfortunately, Sommer said only 1 percent of the books get returned. She gathers new books and rotates them through the 13 libraries she takes care of, but she said it would be helpful if people donated some of their nice, unused books to the Little Free Libraries and Indy Book Project.

Sommer stamps each book with a property of the Little Free Library stamp, but some books get a special sticker: a dedication to Cliff Bennett. Bennett put a lot of work into the libraries, and Sommer keeps his memory alive through her own work.

Although she partners with Indy Book Project and other organizations, Colleen Sommer still thrifts most of her books. She does not want to overuse the resources that others need as well. She and her daughter, Sarah, go to garage sales together.

“I’ve been with her on many garage sales,” Sarah said. “I’ve even hunted for her. We’ll go to garage sales and walk up to people and say, ‘got any books?’ And we’ll see if we can buy the whole lot if we can.”

While Colleen and Sarah stocked books, Sommer’s husband Brian worked on maintenance.

Because the Little Free Libraries are outside, the Sommers have to repair the latches and the roof as the wood shrinks and expands. They replace the plexiglass when it cracks and wipe it down when it’s smudged. Sommer is getting ready to give some libraries a fresh coat of paint.

Despite their hard work to keep the Little Free Libraries clean and well-kept, some people will still leave trash and food in the boxes. The food attracts ants and wasps, so Sommer travels with wasp spray to get rid of the pests.

Sometimes people even clutter the libraries with lost-and-found items. The Sommers have found many things, from boxes of diapers to car keys.

Sommer wants to give the Little Free Library readers a good experience, so she takes out the trash, the inappropriate or dilapidated books, and cleans the box before stocking it once again. She always drives around with 100 books, Windex, screw drivers, and wasp spray to make sure she can give the books a happy home.

“It’s so funny – I’ll show up and I can sense everybody’s watching me: the kids, the parents,” Colleen said. “As soon as I get back to the car, the box gets swarmed, and it’s probably empty within 30 minutes after I’ve left, but, you know, I have so many to do that I can’t keep coming back to one of them.”

Sometimes the kids call Colleen the “Book Lady.” Sarah said one kid called Brian the “Bookie Man.” A few were even courageous enough to ask for recommendations. Sarah said her mom worked book magic on the little libraries.

Colleen takes care of the Little Free Libraries for the community and for the children. She loves to see the books flying off the shelves, knowing that there are people excited to read a new book. She said there is nothing bad you can say about reading.

“That idea that the community is going through that many books – it’s incredible,” Sarah said. “You might take your family to the park and leave with some books and have some new reading material when you’re reading together. I think that’s pretty exciting.”