Harvey Is Now The Home To ‘The Little Free Library’

Members of Top Ladies of Distinction Inc. (TLOD) Will County Black Diamond Chapter have placed a little free library at the Gloria Taylor Banquet Hall in Harvey. Photo provided by MELODYPR.
Members of Top Ladies of Distinction Inc. (TLOD) Will County Black Diamond Chapter have placed a little free library at the Gloria Taylor Banquet Hall in Harvey. Photo provided by MELODYPR.

Harvey Is Now The Home To ‘The Little Free Library’

By Tia Carol Jones

Residents of Harvey and the surrounding communities now have access to a Little Free Library thanks to the Top Ladies of Distinction Inc. (TLOD) Will County Black Diamond Chapter. The local chapter of the international service organization recently hosted a ribbon cutting and reception to celebrate the opening of the library which is located at the Gloria Taylor Banquet Hall, 14821 Broadway, in Harvey.

The Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc. was founded in 1964. There are more than 3,000 women in the organization nationally. The Top Ladies of Distinction Inc. (TLOD) Will County Black Diamond Chapter began in 2015 when Lady Karen Dilligard organized the chapter because she saw a need for a local chapter.

The Little Free Library is a St. Paul, Minn.- based nonprofit organization, with the mission to build community, expand book access and inspire readers. The organization does this with book exchange boxes where people can access books 24 hours a day, seven days a week for free. The goal is to remove barriers to access to books, especially in places where there is not much availability to books, including under resourced communities. Anyone can take a book or donate a book.

Camille Garrett, a member of TLOD Will County Black Diamond Chapter, said the chapter’s literacy committee took up the charge from the national organization to start a little free library. She said the little free library was an idea that the chapter wanted to make sure it facilitated.

“One of the things that we find is that reading, which used to be one of our main mediums of communication, has now kind of fallen down on the scale, with all of the social media that goes on and easy access to our phones and email and internet. Everything is pretty much at our fingertips, so reading has kind of taken a back seat,” Garrett said. She added that the TLOD Will County Black Diamond Chapter does understand the importance of literacy and the organization wanted to create an avenue where people could have access to books in a place where there is not an abundance of free books.

Garrett said having a little free library in Harvey is a wonderful way to give people access to free books and Harvey and surrounding communities can benefit from it being located there. She said it can reach the community and improve literacy while not costing the public anything. The organization raised funds to purchase the library box and the pedestal. The organization also hosted a book drive so they would have books to fill the little free library box.

“We knew ultimately that this library would be established and we would be ready to supply as many books as we can to individuals who want to read, who love to read and can have books available to him. They can pull on up, grab a book and enjoy some reading,” she said.

Garrett said that Cook County Kisha McCaskill helped the organization find a location for the little free library. The little free library is dedicated to Lady Drema Lee Woldman, the Top Ladies of Distinction’s 13th National President, because she chartered the Will County Black Diamond Chapter. Garrett said that the organization hopes to continue their partnership with Commissioner McCaskill, as well as gain other relationships, so they can find other locations for more little free library boxes. Garrett also wants people to take advantage of the little free library and enjoy it, as well as put books in the library.

For more information about the Top Ladies of Distinction Inc. (TLOD) Will County Black Diamond Chapter, visit www.wcblackdiamondtlod.org. For more information about the Little Free Library, visit www.littlefreelibrary.org.

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