The Sheridan Main Street Committee, in cooperation with the Noblesville Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), has located and opened a “Little Free Library” on Main Street in uptown Sheridan. The library is located in the pocket park at the front of the JBS United Feeds parking lot just on the north edge of their office building. Sheridan Main Street is responsible, of course, for several pocket parks on Main Street but this location seemed to be just perfect for a project like this.
Little Free Libraries is an idea that began in Wisconsin in 2009 and features a small, dollhouse-sized structure with a large front panel that opens like a door. Most of the libraries are fashioned after one-room school houses. They are filled with books which people can trade for free. The idea is that for every book you borrow, you will leave one in return for someone else to borrow. Once you have read the book you can trade it in for another. There are no due dates or overdue fines involved; it is based entirely on the integrity of the individual to bring borrowed materials back. And now that warmer weather is returning, this little pocket park location on Main Street makes an excellent location for people to sit, relax and read their books.
Since 2009 and the advent of Little Free Libraries, there are literally thousands of them spread all across the world. According to Elaine Petro, president of the Noblesville Branch of the AAUW, this is their first time to sponsor one of these little libraries and they are very pleased with the enthusiastic welcome they have received here in Sheridan. And the members of the Sheridan Main Street Committee, most notably Linda Williams, Michelle Junkins and Anita Childers, are just as pleased to have this unique gift to our community located in one of their pocket parks.
The next time you drive up or down Sheridan’s Main Street be sure to take a look at our new library located in the 300 block. And if you feel so inclined, please stop and pick up a book or two to take home to read; or better yet, just take a seat in the park and have a good read.