Teacher launches Little Free Library
Morris Park educator sets up free library with plans to put more around borough
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BY JASON COHEN
With limited access to libraries
and many bookstores
closed, one Morris Park
teacher wanted to come up
with a way for her students
and the community to get
books for free.
Roseanna Ayala, 33, a
fourth grade teacher at P.S. 83,
said she coincidentally came
across the Little Free Library
online and upon further research,
became intrigued by
the idea.
“The design of the Little
Free Library makes reading
appealing and fun,” she said.
“It feels almost like a book
club.”
She then broached the idea
of creating a Little Free Library
with her students, who
were immediately on board.
The idea is simple: participants
can set up newspaper
cartons or boxes fi lled with
books in front of homes, business
or schools. Those who are
interested can peruse the literary
offerings and either take a
book or leave one.
Ayala is a Norwood resident
who has taught in Morris
Park for eight years and
told the Bronx Times after
doing research about the
free library, she discovered
there were none in the Bronx.
The closest one is in New Rochelle.
“They’re really excited,”
she said. “The kids have
reached out and talked about
it.”
Ayala put the fi rst library
in front of her school in June
and has plans to put ones in
front of Sweet Water Dance
and Yoga near Yankee Stadium
and the Bronx Native
Shop. Also on Aug. 10, the
Morning Call, a newspaper
in Pennsylvania, donated 10
boxes for books.
But, Ayala is confi dent she
will fi nd 10 homes in the near
future. She shared that books
from the fi rst library have already
been taken.
“I’m trying to create a network,”
she commented. “The
goal is to create some type of
roadmap.” Ayala plans to set up 10 additional Little Free Libraries around the borough Courtesy of Roseanna Ayala
/www.mmcc.org