Most children have a mile-long wish list as their birthdays approach. One 8-year-old from Swainsboro, however, is an exception to the rule.
Ahead of her latest birthday, Cayleigh Taylor relayed to her parents a simple wish to celebrate her ninth trip around the sun: she wanted to implement a Little Free Library here in her hometown.
As parents do, they made it happen.
Taylor worked with her dad, Chris Taylor, for about two or three weeks building the library (pictured below) that would eventually be erected in a residential area of town.
The idea came from her cross-country travels while on family vacation. Her mother, Amanda Taylor, explained.
“Cayleigh loves to read, so when we go on vacation, she loves finding the Free Little Libraries scattered around the U.S. The first one she found was at Cloudland Canyon State Park in northwest Georgia near Lookout Mountain three years ago. She’ll turn 9-years-old on April 4, and she asked her daddy to build a Little Free Library of her own to share her love for reading with people in our neighborhood and community.”
Her dad broke out the tools, and she got her hands dirty as well, helping with the sanding, staining, and painting of the structure. Once it was finished, the Taylors registered it on Little Free Library’s website, making it officially ready for swaps.
The way it works is simple. Traditionally, Little Free Libraries suggest frequenters take a book and leave a book. Some people return the borrowed books while others do not for differing reasons. For example, if someone really likes the book they “checked out,” they may elect to keep it for good. Another common instance for books not being returned to the Free Little Library? Maybe the user is, like Taylor in the past, passing through an area and won’t return.
Either way, whether you take a book and leave a book or if you take a book and keep it, the concept of Little Free Libraries is to share the gift of reading with others.
Inside Taylor’s library are books for all ages. She filled it by collecting works from family and friends.
Should you wish to use Taylor’s library, visit Pine Lake Subdivision, which is located in northern Swainsboro.
The project’s creator, a third grader in Haley Brantley’s class at Swainsboro Elementary, most highly recommends any of the Magic Tree House books or any book about animals.