Little Lenny's Little Free Library Replacement
Donation protected
Hey friends and neighbors,
We are asking the public to come together and help us fundraise the funds for a community resource replacement. Read our story below.
My name is Jennifer Lovato and alongside my fiancé Mike Garcia, we steward the book sharing box known as Little Lenny’s Little Free Library - charter #79027 - in a neighborhood in the South Valley area of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
A Little Free Library (LFL) is basically a public book case where you can “take a book, and/or leave a book” to share with your neighbors. They are incredibly unique and come in many shapes and sizes, but the most common version is a small wooden box of books that may resemble a mini house. As the world's largest book-sharing movement, millions of books are exchanged which profoundly increases access to books for readers of all ages and backgrounds.
Since opening our Little Free Library 2 years ago in September of 2018, we have been able to personally gather and donate roughly 3,100 books to both our neighborhood’s LFL, and other charters around Albuquerque and its surrounding areas in effort to help increase literacy skills, and inspire more readers. We have even regularly supplied other goodies like puzzles, activity books, and brain stimulating strategy games. We even go as far as providing journals, art supplies and small instruments to help motivate others to visit the Little Library.
We have been so honored to help provide our community with access to books. We predominantly serve a community that is 83% Hispanic/Latinx based. The area in which we reside, is known as a book desert- as there are no book stores within a 30 minute drive. With 16 public schools in just our zip code (87121) being Title 1 recipients, and with over 69% of Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) students receiving free or reduced-price meals (according to APS.com) meaning that the neighborhood is considered to be low income. Unfortunately, our zip code has 22% living beneath the poverty line (according to censusreporter.org) so most of our users are not able to afford books. We have even come across some who may have never learned to read! As you can see our book sharing box plays an essential role by providing 24/7 access to books (and encouraging a love of reading!) in areas where books are scarce.
If you have been to our LFL, you’ll notice that our library is a DIY upcycled project. It was once a newspaper dispenser, donated by the Albuquerque Journal. We modified it, cleaned it up and painted some wonderful book related art on it. As it has done an incredible job serving us the past few years, but the dispensers days are coming to an end. We are NOT closing down the LFL but we are trying to make an effort to upgrade it before it gives out. Aside from the normal wear and tear from its daily use, we have noticed that our dispenser doesn’t provide the easiest access. Getting to our top shelf requires a bit of strength and maneuvering, which can be an issue to the elderly. The heavy steels doors also cause some issues to the small children who check the library daily. We need to increase the safety and accessibility of our neighborhood sharing box.
We are here asking for help from the community. We have often seen it be used as a “Blessings Box” where our community shares other goods like school supplies, canned food, diapers, and more. Little Lenny’s Little Free Library is an essential resource to the neighborhood and we need to purchase a bigger, more accessible Little Free Library.
The total we are requesting goes towards purchasing a new library building kit (from the official Little Free Library organizations website), and other building supplies like posts, concrete, weather-proofing materials, paint, fees, etc). Any extra funds we end up with will be used toward stocking the library with new books.
These are photos of the kind of Library box we plan to build. Please help make this possible.
Any amount you donate is GREATLY appreciated. If you aren’t able to donate, please share this fundraiser on your social media to help bring attention to our cause.
Thank you!
Hi friends!
I’ve had a few of you ask about how you can help with donations for Little Lenny’s Little Free Library. We have created a new public wish list of items that we would like to be added to our library. This is an easy and almost instant way to help out if you aren’t able to physically shop or drop off donations. There are items as inexpensive as $1.99 on the list so even if your budget is small, you can still help.
We will always have books + bookmarks stocked but if you would like to help us add more, here is a simple way to do that. find our wish list at
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1B5PWXBEPPIXH?ref_=wl_share
and scroll through the items that you have the option of gifting us. Go ahead and add those to your cart and once you purchase, they will be sent to the Library directly! How easy is that? We really appreciate any support that you have to give. Thank you. ✨
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. littlefreelibrary.org
We are asking the public to come together and help us fundraise the funds for a community resource replacement. Read our story below.
My name is Jennifer Lovato and alongside my fiancé Mike Garcia, we steward the book sharing box known as Little Lenny’s Little Free Library - charter #79027 - in a neighborhood in the South Valley area of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
A Little Free Library (LFL) is basically a public book case where you can “take a book, and/or leave a book” to share with your neighbors. They are incredibly unique and come in many shapes and sizes, but the most common version is a small wooden box of books that may resemble a mini house. As the world's largest book-sharing movement, millions of books are exchanged which profoundly increases access to books for readers of all ages and backgrounds.
Since opening our Little Free Library 2 years ago in September of 2018, we have been able to personally gather and donate roughly 3,100 books to both our neighborhood’s LFL, and other charters around Albuquerque and its surrounding areas in effort to help increase literacy skills, and inspire more readers. We have even regularly supplied other goodies like puzzles, activity books, and brain stimulating strategy games. We even go as far as providing journals, art supplies and small instruments to help motivate others to visit the Little Library.
We have been so honored to help provide our community with access to books. We predominantly serve a community that is 83% Hispanic/Latinx based. The area in which we reside, is known as a book desert- as there are no book stores within a 30 minute drive. With 16 public schools in just our zip code (87121) being Title 1 recipients, and with over 69% of Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) students receiving free or reduced-price meals (according to APS.com) meaning that the neighborhood is considered to be low income. Unfortunately, our zip code has 22% living beneath the poverty line (according to censusreporter.org) so most of our users are not able to afford books. We have even come across some who may have never learned to read! As you can see our book sharing box plays an essential role by providing 24/7 access to books (and encouraging a love of reading!) in areas where books are scarce.
If you have been to our LFL, you’ll notice that our library is a DIY upcycled project. It was once a newspaper dispenser, donated by the Albuquerque Journal. We modified it, cleaned it up and painted some wonderful book related art on it. As it has done an incredible job serving us the past few years, but the dispensers days are coming to an end. We are NOT closing down the LFL but we are trying to make an effort to upgrade it before it gives out. Aside from the normal wear and tear from its daily use, we have noticed that our dispenser doesn’t provide the easiest access. Getting to our top shelf requires a bit of strength and maneuvering, which can be an issue to the elderly. The heavy steels doors also cause some issues to the small children who check the library daily. We need to increase the safety and accessibility of our neighborhood sharing box.
We are here asking for help from the community. We have often seen it be used as a “Blessings Box” where our community shares other goods like school supplies, canned food, diapers, and more. Little Lenny’s Little Free Library is an essential resource to the neighborhood and we need to purchase a bigger, more accessible Little Free Library.
The total we are requesting goes towards purchasing a new library building kit (from the official Little Free Library organizations website), and other building supplies like posts, concrete, weather-proofing materials, paint, fees, etc). Any extra funds we end up with will be used toward stocking the library with new books.
These are photos of the kind of Library box we plan to build. Please help make this possible.
Any amount you donate is GREATLY appreciated. If you aren’t able to donate, please share this fundraiser on your social media to help bring attention to our cause.
Thank you!
Hi friends!
I’ve had a few of you ask about how you can help with donations for Little Lenny’s Little Free Library. We have created a new public wish list of items that we would like to be added to our library. This is an easy and almost instant way to help out if you aren’t able to physically shop or drop off donations. There are items as inexpensive as $1.99 on the list so even if your budget is small, you can still help.
We will always have books + bookmarks stocked but if you would like to help us add more, here is a simple way to do that. find our wish list at
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1B5PWXBEPPIXH?ref_=wl_share
and scroll through the items that you have the option of gifting us. Go ahead and add those to your cart and once you purchase, they will be sent to the Library directly! How easy is that? We really appreciate any support that you have to give. Thank you. ✨
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. littlefreelibrary.org
Organizer
Jennifer Lovato
Organizer
Albuquerque, NM
