As you are driving down Riverview Road in Thomson near The Riverview Lodge Restaurant you will spot a bright blue Little Free Library.  Stop and take a peek inside.  You will find a variety of books for both adults and children. You might find a new author or a book that you have been wanting to read. The Little Free Library is a “take a book, share a book, leave a book” free book exchange.  Anyone can take a book or bring a book to share.

If you have a book you have read and would like to share it just place it in the the Little Free Library.  If the library is full donations can be left at the library in Thomson. 

Little Free Libraries are located in all 50 states and in 91 countries.

This is the first registered Little Free Library in Carroll County.  You can download the Little Free Library app to have access to locate where registered Little Free Libraries are located world wide. 

The Little Free Library was constructed by Les Mitchell and donated by Rhonda  & Bruce Badtke.  Rhonda serves as the York Township Public Library board president.  The Little Free Library is hosted at the home of a loyal library patron.  

The goal of The Little Free Library is to promote literacy in our community and to make the community aware of all the services the York Township Public Library has to offer.

A StoryWalk is available next to the Thomson Public LIbrary and in Lions Club Park.  Librarian Deeann Kramer was the driving force behind this special project. This project was a combined effort between the Thomson Public LIbrary, Thomson Lions CLub, York Township, Village of Thomson and the Thomson American Legion Post. Burt Prins, Bruce Sikkema, Mike Foltz and Larry Woods installed the wooden posts and the metal display cases.   

The StoryWalk starts beside the library and the story unfolds page by page as you continue walking around the playground and ending at the Lions Club pavilion.  There are eighteen stations total.   StoryWalk is a way to promote literacy, physical activity and family time together. 

Each station holds 2 pages from the featured children’s book.  The beginning page features the title of the book and who is sponsoring it.  In honor of 4H week the Thomson Sandburr Club is featuring the book Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type.  Several other stories have been purchased to be featured later in the year.  The books will change every four to six weeks except in the winter.  If you would like to sponsor a book stop by the library for further information.

The StoryWalk Project was created by Anne Ferguson and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier Vermont.  StoryWalk is a registered service mark owned by the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. StoryWalk now exist across the U.S. and worldwide in 13 countries including Germany, Canada, England, Bermuda, Russia, Malaysia, Pakistan and South Korea.

The StoryWalk debuted this summer featuring books relating to the summer reading theme. Librarian Kramer hopes the community will enjoy the StoryWalk for many years to come.