Following Castleton’s First Year Seminar theme of community, Assistant Art Professor Oliver Schemm and his class are extending their reach beyond the campus to make a local impact.
In collaboration with FortySeven Main Street and The Friends of the Library, the FYS class will join the Little Library project, geared toward always providing community members with access to quality literature by creating little libraries.
“It’s a great combination of community outreach and the power of the arts, as well as the magic and adventure of books, and it’s free,” said Schemm of the project.
FortySeven Main Street Inc. is a small community within the village of Castleton that focuses on improving the lives of men suffering from mental illness. Program residents have committed to construct each of the five little libraries, described as wooden boxes, designed to resemble little houses, which will each hold a variety of themed books.
After their construction, Schemm’s FYS students will paint the little libraries as a part of the courses’ color unit.
“We’ll be focusing on different colors and using these little libraries as a canvas,” he said.
At the beginning of the semester Schemm’s students had the opportunity to visit the residents of FortySeven Main Street and learn about the little library construction process. Schemm said this experience proved to be a valuable lesson in the important role diversity plays in a community.
“I think it’s very important for students to understand there are many different kinds of people,” said Schemm.
Each library will highlight diversity by focusing on a theme that is specific to its location in the community, while remained stocked with books by The Friends of the Library.
“They loved that students would be involved,” he said of The Friends of the Library’s excitement for the project, “Because there’s nothing like a book.”