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NEWS RELEASE
Date Thursday, August 14,2014, 9 a.m.
From: Council Member at Large Derek D. Dieter Contact: 532-2200 ddieter ,southbendin.gov
South Bend City Council Vice-President
City of South Bend Teams Up with ` Get Booked"
The City of South Bend will team up with the "Get Booked" program to set up "Huts" around South Bend. This
program will be in conjunction with the Little Free Library to set up free standing libraries across the city.
What is Little Free Library?
It's a"take a book,return a book"gathering place where neighbors share their favorite literature and stories. In its
most basic form,a Little Free Library is a box full of books where anyone may stop by and pick up a book(or two)and
bring back another book to share.
The"Get Booked"program began in 2011 when then South Bend Police Officer Derek Dieter began giving books
to children around South Bend. Books were kept in the trunk of his police squad car and he was the Police
Bookmobile. Initially books were donated by the St. Joseph County Library to start the initiative.
In 2013, Dieter then teamed up with the South Bend Silverhawks and the Salvation Army Kroc Center, to reward
children who read books and then did book reports. The program consisted of children reading five(5)books and
then completing book reports. When the book reports were turned in,they would be rewarded with either four(4)
tickets to a Silverhawks game or four(4)passes to the Kroc Center.
Since their program started, Better World Books has supplied over 8,000 books to area youth. After Dieter retired
from the Police Department, he continued the program as a City Council Member. In March of this year he went
to four (4) schools to pass out books — at Muessel, Marquette, Tarkington and Holy Cross. An additional 300
books were passed out this Summer to youth attending the SBCSC Science Camps.
Dieter and Deputy Mayor Mark Neal have teamed up, and the City of South Bend has partnered with the Little
Free Library Program. Within the next few weeks, "Get Booked Huts" will be appearing all over South Bend.
Initially these will be placed in City Parks, and then neighborhood locations may follow. Sites such as unity
gardens,a vacant lot, or even a resident's yard could be a location for a"Hut".
Local Carpenter Union 413 will build four(4) huts to kick off the program and they will be painted by area youth
at the upcoming Art Beat on August 16t".
Huts may be constructed by anyone and paperwork on the location must be filed and checked by the Building
Department to make sure everything is up to City Code. Better World Books will continue to supply books to the
"Huts"and Pandora Books will also contribute to keep the"Huts" stocked full of great reading materials for kids.
For more information on the program go to LittleFreeLibrary.org
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Little Free Libraries:
• originated in Hudson,WI in 2009 by Todd Bol as a memorial tribute to his mother,a former school teacher who loved reading.
• are a'take a book,return a book'gathering place where neighbors share their favorite literature and stories. Basically,it is a box
full of books where anyone may stop and pick up a book and bring back another book to share.
• can be located in front yards,parks,gardens,and other easily accessible locations.
• are hand-crafted structures with constantly changing collections of books for people of all ages and backgrounds. They are
designed to withstand all kinds of weather,and hold 20-100 books.
• have become a grassroots movement across America and around the world. They are"popping up"everywhere!
•promote reading and literacy for children and adults,and help develop a sense of community.
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