The Swellesley Report

Since 2005: More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

Search Results for: little library

Will this Little Library become Wellesley’s next tear-down?

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Little Library, Wellesley
Is this abandoned Little Library, in minor disrepair, a candidate for renovation, or is destined to become another Wellesley tear-down?

I came across this Little Library last week standing empty and sad, when at one time it was filled with purpose and books. I won’t tell you its exact location, not because I think Wellesley-ites will throw rotten tomatoes at the house it stands in front of, but because I think Wellesley-ites will rally and in an instant have the neglected former book exchange spot jam-packed with reading material. Since the house somewhat recently changed ownership, it’s possible the new owners just haven’t gotten around to stocking the spot. Then again, maybe they don’t want to tend a circulation desk right in their front yard, and that would be their right. I suppose. I mean, “buyer agrees to tend Little Library in perpetuity” probably isn’t in the deed.

Could be we’ll soon see the first Little Library appear at the RDF Reusables Area and why not? Everything else eventually ends up there.

There are about a half-dozen or so Little Libraries around Wellesley from one end of town to the next. Some are stately-looking and “official” meaning they have an affiliation with LittleFreeLibrary.org, a non-profit on a mission to provide literacy programs throughout the country. Others are more rag-tag Do-It-Yourself projects, labors of love by someone who just wants to encourage a neighborhood give-and-take ethos centered around books.

Here’s where you can find a few of Wellesley’s Little Libraries:

  • On Brook St., in front of the house with the cow garage door
  • At the corner of Southgate Rd. and Wellesley Ave. That home is on the market, so I wonder what will become of that Little Library, which is always decorated for the holidays.
  • In front of Hardy School
  • In Linden Square. The Girl Scouts of Troop 73505 spearheaded that project.
  • In the Hunnewell School area, in front of the big stucco house, in the middle of a beautiful flower garden.
     

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black & blue, Wellesley
Olive Tree Medical, Wellesley
Haskins Automotive, Wellesley
MIT Museum, Cambridge

Wellesley’s newest Little Free Library opens at Barton Road Community Center

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We hope Barton Road residents and visitors will enjoy the new Little Free Library located at the Wellesley development’s community center. It sits alongside an older Little Free Library—can’t have too many books!

little free library barton roadThe Swellesley Report secured a Wellesley Cultural Council grant to purchase the Little Free Library kit a couple of years back, but the pandemic delayed its installation.

Wellesley High grads Carter Gill and Duncan Brown joined forces to assemble the library, and the very artistic Carter painted it.

We thank Wellesley Housing Authority and its facilities team for picking up the library from our home and installing it at the community center.

We’d love for the library to feature books from local authors, so feel free to reach out to us (theswellesleyreport@gmail.com) or add books to the box yourself.

little free library barton road

There was already a good collection in the box, including a fine looking kid’s book about a shy kitten, and a Marie Kondo book about keeping things tidy—hoping that will provide inspiration for keeping the library from getting messy.

Page Waterman, Natick
London Harness, Wellesley
Dedham Country Day School

Curbside pickup to end at library, but you can get by with a little help from the Friends

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Wellesley Free Library, fall 2020Curbside pickup at the Wellesley Free Library will end on November 25th, but Operation Friends can help. If you are unable or uncomfortable picking up your holds from the library, the Friends of the Wellesley Free Library can pick up and deliver your library materials directly to your door. To arrange for a delivery please call 781-235-1610 x 1117.

Library hours:

The main library located at 530 Washington Street is open for browsing the collection and checking out materials. The Fells and Hills branch libraries remain closed. The book drops at the main library and the branches are open for returns.

Mon. – Fri., 9 am – 10am is reserved for seniors and at-risk
Mon. – Thur., 10am- 2pm and 3pm- 8pm
Friday, 10am – 2pm and 3pm – 6pm
Saturday, 10am – 3pm
Sundays 1pm – 5pm

NOTE: The building is closed for cleaning Monday-Friday from 2-3 pm

More on the library’s phased re-opening plan.

Wellesley Youth Basketball
Longfellow, Wellesley

Wellesley Girl Scouts feed your need to read with Linden Square Little Free Library

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girl scout library in linden square wellesley
8th grade Girl Scouts Lydia Barker, Neev Gamble, and Sophie Maggioni show off Little Free Library in Linden Square

 

Wellesley 8th graders Lydia Barker, Sophie Maggioni and Neev Gamble have built a swell Little Free Library on Linden Street as a Girl Scout community service project designed to earn them the Silver Award, the highest honor a middle school scout can get.

“By building these small libraries, different generations can interact with each other and we can build a stronger community,” the girls say. “We got the idea because all three of us share a love of books and literature, so we thought that would be a fun thing to work on for our Silver Award Project.”

The Troop 73505 members built the permanent book-filled box over the past year, enriching Wellesley’s already spectacular collection of formal and informal libraries. They worked in Lydia’s garage, and her dad (John Barker) led the process. The library is made out of wood, with an outer shell of AZEK, to make it weather proof.

The Little Free Library was installed on Oct. 12 and is open for book borrowing and donating. When we swung by this week, Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb, a Nancy Drew book and Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian were among the selections.

The library will have its official unveiling during a 5:30-6:30pm event on Oct. 20 in Linden Square at which the Roche Bros./Linden Square/WHS Evolutions Progam/Natural Resources Commission reusable bag design contest winner will be revealed as well.

This is the first Girl Scout Little Free Library in Wellesley, but the girls say they are hoping it won’t be the last.

little free library

Wellesley Symphony Orchestra
Wellesley Marketplace 2026

Call to local literary legends: library seeks Wellesley’s own creative stars

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Wellesley library, Brice MacLaren
Photo by Brice MacLaren

Wellesley Free Library assistant and local writer Je’Lesia Jones is on a quest to preserve the town’s creative legacy.

Titled the “Wellesley Authors and Illustrators Project”, the ambitious undertaking Je’Lesia is working on in partnership with the WFL seeks to establish a permanent collection dedicated exclusively to the works of Wellesley’s authors and illustrators. The vision? To create a sanctuary where the town’s collective wisdom, imagination, and artistry can live forever on the shelves. Thus, the search is on for published writers and illustrators who are Wellesley residents, former residents, students, educators, or authors employed by the town.

Get involved in the hunt for Wellesley’s literary soul

The challenge, as Je’Lesia explains, isn’t a lack of talent—it’s finding it. Wellesley, with its proximity to Boston and Cambridge, has long been a home for intellectuals, students, and artists, but many of these creatives fly under the radar. The library needs help from the community to reach out to friends, neighbors, and colleagues to help locate them. Contact the Wellesley Authors & Illustrators Project at wellesleyauthors@minlib.net for additional information.

Whether residents have penned a gripping mystery, a scholarly textbook, or a graphic novel, the library wants to hear from you. Materials in the permanent collection will include works of fiction, nonfiction, memoir, mystery, poetry, graphic novels, biographies, screenplays, as well as textbooks and children’s books. The collection will also include over-sized coffee-table volumes and other illustrated works. Texts in all languages are encouraged. Eventually, the collection will broaden to add articles that appear in magazines, newspapers, and other academic or specialized journals.

Help ensure that no Wellesley story goes untold and no illustration goes unseen. It’s time to bring Wellesley’s creative works home.

A history of dragging writers back to town (one way or another)

A few years ago the Roots and Wings: Wellesley High’s Legacy of Nurturing Creativity program celebrated Wellesley High School’s long history of graduates who are writers, and the teachers who inspired them. During a panel discussion moderated by Beth Hinchliffe, herself a former presidential speechwriter and the unofficial town historian, WHS graduates who are writers spoke about their formative years in Wellesley and how their teachers set them on their path. More here.

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Wellesley, Health Dept., Menopause movie

Wellesley Free Library presents: True Stories Behind the Greatest Liberation

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Wellesley Free Library, author visitEVENT: Author visit: True Stories Behind the Greatest Liberation: Bergen-Belsen, 1945 with Dr. Bernice Lerner

Tuesday, May 12

7:00 PM to 8:30 PM

Wakelin Room

What principles guided the small group of liberators who worked to feed tens of thousands of starving displaced persons, contain the spread of disease, and equip the largest hospital in post-war Europe?

Dr. Bernice Lerner shares powerful and little-known stories of this unprecedented liberation—from the perspectives of both the liberators and the survivors, including her mother, Rachel Genuth

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Wellesley eats up library’s Edible Book Festival

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Luciana Gonzalez next to her Harry Potter themed edible creation.
Luciana Gonzalez next to her Harry Potter-themed edible creation (photos by Emma Mullay)

 
When asked why she picked Harry Potter as the theme for her edible creation, 9-year-old Luciana Gonzalez, standing proudly at her station—which showcased an intricate scene depicting characters and places like the Sorting Hat, Hogwarts Castle and Hedwig the owl made from cake, Rice Krispy treats, fondant and more—said it was simple. 

 “I like magic!”

The Wellesley Free Library hosted its second annual Edible Book Festival on March 29, with colorful and delicious creations depicting different scenes from over a dozen children’s novels. 

Emma Weiler library
Emma Weiler, children’s supervisor at Wellesley Free Library

 
Emma Weiler, the children’s supervisor at the Wellesley Free Library, said she heard about it online and wanted to take part.

“People organize these globally, it’s always around April 1, and I’ve always wanted to do one,” she said. “I like that, as a librarian, I can take my interests and turn them into programs.”

This is the second year Wellesley has held festivities for International Edible Book Day since librarians Judith A. Hoffberg and Béatrice Coron founded the holiday April 1, 2000.

Weiler said the library event was open to everybody, regardless of age. It awarded six different prizes for both youth and adult submissions. Two awards, Best Kid Creation and Funniest/Punniest Entry, went to 8-year-old Avery Lee who created “Make Way for Booklings,” a play on Robert McCloskey’s iconic “Make Way for Ducklings” book. 

8-year-old Avery Lee, who won Best Kid Creation and Funniest/Punniest Entry for her “Make Way for Booklings” design.
8-year-old Avery Lee, who won Best Kid Creation and Funniest/Punniest Entry for her “Make Way for Booklings” design

 
Isabella Conway, 10, based her creation off of Jasmine Warga’s “A Rover’s Story,” which she chose because she “wanted to have something that represented a lot of life lessons” and was “inspiring” to her and her peers. 

Conway said she chose to frost a rectangle cake because she knew it would be easier to design and wanted it to resemble the cover of a book. She said she heard about the event through the bulletin board at the library and is planning on taking part in it again in the future. 

edible books
Isabella Conway next to her “A Rover’s Story” edible creation

 
Gonzalez decided to recreate a variety of scenes from the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling, which are both her favorite books and movies, with the castle Hogwarts, the Sorting Hat and Harry’s pet owl, Hedwig, among those showcased in her design.

Her friends and family also all love the books, so she said it was an easy decision. Gonzalez said she had “so much fun” with the hopes to do it again next year. 

Weiler said she aims to continue the event next year, hoping for increased turnout and more engagement from the community. 

“I feel like every year, you tweak things and try and make it a little better,” she said “This is only our second year, but I’ve certainly been billing it as our second annual, and we’re going to do it again next year.”

This story is part of a partnership between the Swellesley Report and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun

 

Edible Book Festival sign
Photo by Emma Mullay

Grinch appears to have been at Wellesley Free Library: ‘On their walls, he left nothing but hooks and some wire…’

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It’s in between art exhibits in the James E. Mahoney Foyer of Wellesley Free Library, leaving what appears to be the work of the Grinch, who famously after stuffing the tree up the chimney left little else. “On their walls, he left nothing but hooks and some wire…,” per the Dr. Seuss story.

library foyer library foyer

Expect a new exhibit to be displayed in early 2026.