Children and families across Central Falls will soon have a new way to access books and fall in love with reading thanks to an innovative project with the partnership of Central Falls Recreation Department.

On Thursday, August 23, we will unveil its newly-installed Children’s “Books Spots” outdoor library in Jenks Park in Central Falls. The new outdoor library will provide 24/7 access to books for local children and families, and is the first of six “Book Spots” the organization will erect in Central Falls.The project has been generously funded by Collette and the Rhode Island Foundation.

Books Are Wings’ “Book Spots” are based on the “take a book, return a book” free book exchange model made popular across the country by Little Free Library, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit. We partnered with Little Free Library to bring the program to Rhode Island, and received permission from the organization to alter the concept so children can take books without the expectation that they are returned. By making it possible for children to keep the books they’ve selected, Books Are Wings’ “Book Spots” encourage youth to build their own at-home libraries.