Presbyterian College early childhood education students Caroline Moore, a junior from Chapin, S.C., and Claire Doolittle, a junior from Pomaria, S.C., partnered with the City of Clinton to install a Little Free Library in Lydia Mill Children’s Park.

Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization that sells wooden libraries to be installed in neighborhoods around the country to promote book exchanges and the love of reading among residents.

For their education capstone class this semester, Moore and Doolittle reviewed research on the relationship between access to books, time spent reading, and reading proficiency. They found that children living in poverty often do not spend much time reading for pleasure because they lack engaging reading materials in the home. Moore and Doolittle realized that a Little Free Library could help to get high-interest books into the hands of such children.

Moore and Doolittle met with Jerre Threatt, director of community development for the City of Clinton, to discuss the installation of a Little Free Library, purchased by the PC education department. Threatt was excited to add this library to the collection of Little Free Libraries in Clinton. There were already libraries in Clinton Mill Park and Josh and Ella Savage Park, and a fourth will soon be installed at Pine Street Park, courtesy of Clinton Elementary School.

Moore and Doolittle visit the Little Free Library weekly to stock it with books. Based on research indicating that children and youth are more likely to read when they can self-select books of interest, Moore and Doolittle place book request slips inside the library so that readers can request specific books.

So far, 25 request slips have been filled, many of which Moore and Doolittle have been able to fulfill thanks to donations from First Presbyterian Church of Clinton members.

Students in the International Honors Society in Education, Kappa Delta Pi, will be fundraising to purchase books requested by children, and Moore and Doolittle have placed collection boxes in the PC library, on the fourth floor of HP, and at the First Presbyterian Church so that faculty, staff, students, and community members can contribute books to the Little Free Library.

Presbyterian College is located on a striking 240-acre campus in Clinton, between Columbia and Greenville, S.C. Offering challenging academics and a culture of honor, ethics, and service that prepares students to be leaders in communities, PC offers its students the benefit of engaging with an exceptional faculty who take individual interest in their students’ well-being, both personally and in the classroom. The Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy is dedicated to the ideals of leadership, honor to the profession, and service to the community. For more information about Presbyterian College, visit www.presby.edu.