Parish Spotlight: Saint Martin's / Inclusive Little Free Library

This project is to create a registered Little Free Library located on parish grounds, curated for inclusive children’s books as well as inclusive adult spirituality books. We have a special focus on books for/about trans and gender nonconforming kids and families.

The books that were either donated to our program or we were able to use grant money to pay for. 
We used a portion of our grant money to buy a solidly constructed Little Free Library and our project lead donated the materials and her time to paint, stain, and seal the library to protect it from the elements.

We put a lot of thought into our LFL's location, deciding on the side of the property more in the residential area than the main thoroughfare, although making sure it was visible to anyone on a nearby sidewalk and accessible to all. 

We have managed to curate a collection of almost 100 diverse, inclusive children's books that we have put out into the community and are hopefully circulating among the other LFLs in the area. Second, through donations of books, materials, and supplies, we have more than doubled the grant money we were given by EC, and clearly have tapped into a need, and passionate topic, in our community. 

This project was first conceived of only a few months before we learned of this grant opportunity and would've been several more years in the making to get the funds for the LFL itself, let alone all the books, without Episcopal Charities.  Having money available immediately to purchase the LFL gave us the ability to jump right in, purchase a Library and enough books to make sure it wouldn't be empty, and be able to collect more donations from community members, parishioners, friends, and family members by showing we were serious about this project.