WILKINSON — Two years ago, the Wilkinson Town Council asked residents what they’d like most: horseshoe pits, a volleyball court or a library?
Overwhelmingly, the answer was a library, and town officials made good on that offer. The “Little Firehouse Library” opens this week in a berth in the old fire station at Wilkinson Town Hall. The library boasts books about a myriad of topics, from romance novels to books about raising chickens, and operates on the honor system.
Wilkinson Boy Scouts like Lucas Elliott, 12, and Andrew Elliott, 15, distributed informational fliers with bookmarks around the town before an open house held Saturday. Library board members held a book sale and offered homemade baked goods and punch to residents who braved the rain.
The library is not meant to replace the services of the Hancock County Public Library, said library committee member Jan Fisher, but give Wilkinson residents easier access to literature, as the Brown Township town is about a 25-minute drive from the Greenfield library’s main branch.
Wilkinson’s library is open three days a week — Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Wilkinson town officials used leftover funds from a parks equipment grant from the White Family Foundation to build the cozy library in the former fire engine berth, said library committee member Terry Reasner. The renovation cost about $5,800, said Dennis Fisher, a member of the library committee, but all books and other items including furniture were donated, and the library will be staffed by volunteers.
One of those volunteers has the knowledge to help the little library run like its bigger cousins. Jan Fisher was a librarian at the Eastern Hancock Elementary School for about 10 years while her children were attending there, she said. She’s happy to help teach the basics of the Dewey decimal system, as long as volunteer staffers are willing to learn.
Town residents continued to donate to the library’s collection drive on Saturday.
Most books are available to be checked out on the honor system for two weeks, but the library also offers yearbooks from area high schools for reference only.
Fisher said the library board hopes to collect more yearbooks from area schools, and anyone who wishes to donate may contact town officials.
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The Wilkinson Little Firehouse Library, which is staffed by volunteers, will be open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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The library board hopes to collect more yearbooks from area schools, and anyone who wishes to donate may contact town officials by calling 765-781-6055.
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