SAN MARCOS – In a quiet place on the third floor of Palomar College’s Humanities building lies a paradise of peace between towering bookshelves of titles ranging from anthologies to comics and popular fiction, known as the Little Free Library. This “take a book, leave a book” operation both promotes and supports a healthy habit and a variety of knowledge while easing monetary barriers.
Inspired by the mission of Little Free Libraries and the lack of reading habits in students today, English Professors Rocco Versaci and Kevin Kearney set out to build Palomar’s own Little Free Library on the third floor of the H building among the faculty offices, where it remains to be an ever-changing collection of resources for any community member.
“Books are really a gift because we can only live one life and have one perspective, but through books, we can experience so much more. And when we really engage with those other perspectives and lives that are different from our own, it’s much harder to dehumanize or other people. Reading makes the world around us more expansive, while so much of the technology we’re surrounded by has the effect of limiting us and our views of others,” Versaci said in an email interview.
The first Little Free Library was built in 2009, and a nationwide movement began.
“Our mission is to be a catalyst for building community, inspiring readers, and expanding book access for all,” reads the official mission statement from the Little Free Library website.
Palomar’s Free Little Library is certified and can be found on the official Little Library map, emphasizing its role not just for campus students and staff but for surrounding community members as well.
Continuously renewed with the donations of staff and students, the Little Free Library provides community members with an exciting assortment of books from every genre and type, such as DVDs, Penguin classics, textbooks and anthologies, religious texts, comics, Palomar’s own publications, blind book dates, plays, and more.
Existing within a time where social media has created an attention economy in which it dominates while also holding much control over the flow of information was a common concern of both professors and students interviewed, emphasizing the importance of easily accessing a variety of books without monetary concerns or leasing restrictions.
“It’s so easy to not read and to just like doom scroll on your phone so I think accessibility makes it easier for you to like get off of your phone. And I love my phone, I love doom scrolling on my TikTok, but sometimes I’m like, ‘Wow I really need to be doing something else right now,’ and I pick up a book and I read it and it’s like a nice break from the horrors of right now,” Isabella Fulop, a second-year Palomar student, said.
Recent political discourse on book banning and censorship has also been a forefront concern of many avid readers.
“Little free libraries say a lot about the power of community and communities coming together to provide resources that may otherwise be restricted or inaccessible,” said Professor Lasater, a well-known contributor, and ambassador of Palomar’s Little Free Library, during an interview over Zoom about the importance of having a Little Free Library on campus.
Little Free Libraries are special because of their role in building community wherever they are placed, and they provide an accessible and positive alternative to online consumption or isolated perspectives.
“I hope that it continues to be a gathering place for students, that it encourages reading, that it maybe even inspire people to start their own,” said Professor Versaci regarding the future of Palomar’s unique Little Free Library.
