Ready. Set. Read.

WORLAND - In just two short months the Little Free Library went from an idea approved by the Worland City Council for Pioneer Square to being installed, decorated and with books ready for reading.

Friends of the Worland Library President Kathi Morrison and member Vickie Overcast presented the idea to the Worland City Council in August for approval to put the Little Free Libraries up at a few of the parks in the community.

Morrison said that a couple had approached the Friends about purchasing a Little Free Library in Worland. The Friends would maintain the Little Free Library by placing books in the library, keeping it clean and watching for vandalism.

She said she needed the council to approve the project to have it placed in a park, starting with Pioneer Square. That vision came to reality on Wednesday when city crews installed the two-shelf Little Free Library and Morrison said the Friends put a few books in there and decorated it for Halloween.

She said the top shelf is children's books for children up to middle school and the bottom shelf has adult literature. She said they plan to have a few spooky titles in there for Halloween.

The Friends bought $100 worth of new children's books for the Little Free Library, including some in Spanish, but they will mix new with the used to start with.

Morrison said most of the books are used books that have been donated to the Friends. She said she and a few other members plan to carry books in their car so when they see that the Little Free Library is depleted of books it will be easy to restock.

The books are being stamped that they are donated by the Friends of the Worland Library.

She said the Pioneer Square Little Free Library comes complete with a dog hook so people can hook their dog while they look for a book or if they stop to sit on a bench in the park and read.

"We want it to be a place where people can sit and read or take a book if they choose," Morrison said. Morrison said if the Pioneer Square Little Free Library goes as well as she hopes, the donors have offered to provide funds to build another for another park, possibly Hillcrest.

She has also put a notebook in the "library" for people to provide suggested titles and write down who they are and where they are from because they would like an idea of who is utilizing the Little Free Library.

"We want to keep them in the parks as a city attraction," Morrison said, noting that many of the libraries registered are in people's yards.

"I'm real excited about it I think it's going to be a great thing. The big thing is literacy. We want people reading," she said.

She noted that there is another little library in Worland at Pizza Hut but Morrison said it is not officially registered with the Little Free Library program.

Morrison explained the idea behind the Little Free Library. "What they do, is people come and they look through the books and if they find one they want to read they take it. A lot of times they have a book they want to give back so they put another book in to replace the one they are taking. So it kind of goes like that and it gets people reading," Morrison said.

The Little Free Library is just another opportunity to provide reading outreach to the community.

Morrison said they have a book shelf at the Worland Community Center with books that are free to the public. There are also paperback books at Big Horn Co-op for the truck drivers and others to read. "The community outreach projects are very successful and meet our goal of getting books to the public," Morrison said.

She said they also provide books to the detention center and senior citizens center and will be taking books to Worland Healthcare and Rehabilitation.

LITTLE FREE LIBRARY

Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization that inspires a love of reading, builds community and sparks creativity by fostering neighborhood book exchanges around the world, Morrison said.

According to the website, "Since the Little Free Library nonprofit was established just six years ago, it has grown into an award-winning global force for literacy and community-building, with registered book exchanges in 88 countries."

BRUNCH

In order to offer the reading outreaches and help the Worland library, Morrison and the Friends of the Worland Library hold various fundraisers throughout the year. This Saturday is the Breakfast at Tiffany's Brunch Baubles and Bingo event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at St. Alban's Episcopal church. Tickets, which include brunch and three bingo cards, are available at the Washakie County Library in Worland or will be available at the door. There will be bingo and a silent auction following brunch.

This year, instead of a guest speaker they are doing bingo and playing the "Breakfast at Tiffany's" CD.

"We're keeping it simple this year," Morrison said, noting next year's theme will center around the centennial anniversary of women being granted the right to vote. She said Worland High School social studies teacher Christy Vickers has been invited to speak next year.

This fundraiser helps fund a scholarship to a high school senior every year, helps the Friends give money to the library staff when they need it for a project, helps fund some summer programming, provides supplies for the monthly Soup and a Movie event; and supplies, including children's books to be given away, fora the Read Across America event every March.

The Friends also provides some funds to the Washakie County Library Foundation.

"We do a lot of things to promote literacy and the library," Morrison said.