Mini libraries pop up across Fort McMurray

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Four repurposed newspaper boxes will help promote literacy in Fort McMurray.

The Wood Buffalo Regional Library’s mini libraries, made from newspaper boxes donated by the Fort McMurray Today, will operate under the honour system of take a book, leave a book.

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Mini libraries pop up across Fort McMurray Back to video

People interested in taking a book from the four boxes are asked to leave a book in its place, and return it once it has been read.

The idea came in August 2016, when representatives from TransCanada Pipelines pitched the idea to the library.

The library hopes that more mini libraries will be set up in the community, including in Wood Buffalo’s rural hamlets.

Library staff will regularly visit the mini libraries to make sure the books left is appropriate, in good shape and that the boxes are kept in good condition.

“We encourage community members to take ownership of the mini libraries in their neighbourhood,” a statement from the library reads.

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The multicoloured boxes were painted by children no older than 5, while another box was painted by children between 6 and 12 from the Summer Reading Program.

A third box was painted by 13 to 18 year olds from the Justin Slade Youth Foundation and a fourth was painted by new Canadians from the library’s English Language Learners program.

The first four mini libraries can be found outside Snye Point building and the Frank Lacroix Arena, as well as the entrance by the Doug Barnes Cabin and Eagle Ridge’s Swallow Way Gazebo.

-with files from Olivia Condon

vmcdermott@postmedia.com