Mark your summer calendars and head to Haglage Memorial Park to enjoy a good book. A new Little Free Library – the second in the Village of Batavia – has opened at 228 Main Street. Little Free Library is a free community book exchange. Anyone can visit the green wooden box to take a book, return a book or bring a book to share.
Sponsor Denise Boutet wants to share her love for books with the community. “Reading is a critical skill for success. Growing up as a child on a farm near Owensville, we only had the Batavia Public Library, a bookmobile and no Internet. Reading opened the world to me and I want to help do the same for others.”
Mayor John Thebout and village administrator Dennis Nichols were excited about the idea. Mr. Nichols suggested Haglage Memorial Park as the site, a popular location in the heart of Batavia honoring the memory of Walter Haglage.
Son Mark Haglage agreed to mount the library to a pole in the park surrounded by benches, the American flag and a flower garden. With assistance from Glam on Wheels co-owner Derrick Burchett, the library was installed and filled with books on May 30th.
Ms. Boutet hopes residents will enjoy and support the Little Free Library. She is already working to find a second location in Clermont County in hopes of sponsoring another Little Free Library.
The Little Free Library is a non-profit organization promoting literacy and bringing people together. In addition to the two Batavia locations (the first is located in front of Family Animal Hospital at 333 W Main Street), more than 60,000 registered branches exist through the world.
Stop by, take a book, share a book and meet your neighbors.