Mike Wolanin | The Republic A view of the little library outside East Columbus United Methodist Church in Columbus, Ind., Monday, Aug. 29, 2022. The little library was built and placed by Tom Hadley and Ed Niespodziani.
Local community members and an east Columbus church are partnering with the Bartholomew County Public Library to provide free books for kids.
Ed Niespodziani and Tom Hadley recently finished work on a “little library” outside of East Columbus United Methodist Church. The structure is a small book box stationed on top of a post and is designed to look like a replica of the church.
The books inside the church’s mini-library are free to kids in the neighborhood and come from the Bartholomew County Public Library’s Book Express. According to Community Outreach Librarian and Book Express Coordinator Sandy Allman, the library began stocking the book box last week. They plan to check the box and restock it twice a month as needed.
The concept is similar to book boxes under the Little Free Library umbrella. However, this particular box is not affiliated with that organization, said Katie Niespodziani.
The idea to create the little library came from Hadley, who is a retired teacher, member of the church and friend to the Niespodzianis. When he mentioned it to fellow church member Katie, she told him that her husband had experience making little libraries.
“I figured I could probably convince him to do one more,” said Katie. “So Tom funded the construction of it and donated his time, and they collaborated. And as Ed always does, he designed it to look like the structure it’s near.”
She added that they got input from the project on other church members. While there was some interest around having the library stocked with religious books for children, they decided to go for a variety instead in hopes of reaching a wider audience.
Pastor Jongmin Lee said he’s proud of the dedication and compassion shown by members through this project.
According to Katie, the little library is part of the church’s plans to do more outreach to kids in the nearby neighborhood.
“Tom said that his home life, as a child, was one of generational poverty, and so they didn’t have money to own a book,” she said. “Ed came from a family of seven, and I’m guessing that funds were slim for books as well. He was the first one in his family to graduate college. So having that feeling for the neighborhood and the kids — the demographic of this neighborhood is primarily single parent with children. And so we know that that’s a tight thing.”
“It opens up a world of books to all kinds of people who may not have had that opportunity,” said Ed.
