I love books. I taught myself to read at the age of 5 and haven’t put a book down ever since. As a child I won several “Queen of Children’s Readers” contests held at the local library, where they kept track of every book I borrowed, and several years in a row I came close to the number 300. 

I don’t have time to visit the library several times a week and I definitely don’t read 300 books a year anymore. But I still look for every chance I have to touch books, smell them, flip through their pages and time permitting, burying my nose in them. Recently I’ve heard about a cool new thing in town called a Little Free Library and I immediately jumped on the chance of exploring the concept further. It’s about my beloved books, after all!

Turns out, a very sweet (and chatty) retired teacher named Jeanne Pollard from Friends of the Library decided to set up a little free library in front of her house at 790 El Capitan. It’s a part of a nation-wide movement (you can check out www.littlefreelibrary.org for a list of locations) where book lovers like Jeanne and her family set up a covered bookshelf facing the sidewalk and fill it with books. I immediately fell in love with the concept and since I’m the main producer for our video show Central Valley Beat, with new episodes going live every other Friday, I decided to grab the video camera and talk to Jeanne about her great idea. 

Jeanne explained everything from setting up the library to how it works and how much local children love to come over and borrow the books. She talked about her love of reading and how her son totally surprised her with the unique design of the library in front of her house. You should definitely check it out! Watch episode 5 of the Central Valley Beat on Friday, April 17. Go to www.mantecabulletin.com and scroll down to the video or go straight to www.youtube.com/mantecabulletin for the episode 5 and all the previous shows.