Hothouse – There’s a new library on the western end of Cherokee County.
Bob Weinkle built and installed a Little Free Library near his home on Marrestop Road, near the intersection with Johnsonville Road. He said he’d been thinking about the project for a couple of years and finally had the time to do it.
“Our end of the county, there’s really nothing like that,” Weinkle said. “It was just the right thing to do.”
The concept of the library is simple – participants may take a book or share a book with others.
The library is a small cabinet with a stained glass door. Weinkle, who loves woodworking in his spare time, said he used ideas he found on the internet to build his own cabinet for the books. The stained-glass piece was a decorative item he had but wasn’t using. He spent about a month off and on building the library.
Wrinkle and his neighbors, church members and even his wife’s school provided books for children, teenagers and adults to start the library. However, everyone is welcome to share books.
“The whole purpose is to try to get the community involved,” Weinkle said. “Hopefully, it’s just a great resource.”
Since installing the library on Nov. 16, he has already seen a few people stop by. He knows there are at least 10-12 kids in the area that could benefit from it.
Wrinkle worked with the Little Free Library organization to set up his library. The movement began in 2009 in Wisconsin, and today the organization has 100,000 registered throughout the world.
There are four other libraries registered with the organization in the county, although there are other cabinets with the same concept in local communities. For details on Little Free Libraries and where to find them, visit littlefreelibrary.org.