Appellate judges spur creation of little libraries at courthouses across the state

Take a book. Leave a book.

That’s what the sign says on the book cart that resides in the hallway on the second floor of the Morgan County Courthouse.

Little free libraries like this one are popping up in courthouses across the state, thanks to the initiative of some of the state’s appellate court judges at the Statehouse in Indianapolis.

Morgan Superior Court Judge Dakota VanLeewen started hers in October.

She said it has helped to calm and occupy children who find themselves in the courtroom, as well as entertain adults looking for a new read and needing to fill some time.

“I’ve seen several people sitting closer to that bookcase than they ever sat to the courts before,” VanLeewen said.

She said children love it when she lets them know about the cart out in the hallway.

VanLeewen said she enjoys watching them go skipping to grab a book. The court also holds stuffed animals and coloring books.

“I think it’s something beneficial for the people that are here. Give them something that could challenge them, they could open doors, take them somewhere else, other than scrolling on their phone, which mindlessly, doesn’t really fill the time where a book could,” VanLeewen said.

VanLeewen said community members have told her they have been inspired to start their own mini libraries after seeing the one in the courthouse.

“I’d like to just start it, spark it, and let it see where it goes,” VanLeewn said. “And so far, it’s gone pretty far in this county.”

Organic growth

The idea to start a little free library in the Morgan County courthouse came from an email sent by Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Nancy Vaidik, letting trial judges across the state know that books were being collected for such purposes.

“Every one of us learned so much by reading our whole life. That’s what our life is, is reading as a Court of Appeals judge, and I think it all happened for all of us when we were children and we had these wonderful books to get us interested in reading,” Vaidik said.

She recalled her earliest favorite books being from the Nancy Drew series.

The first courthouse in the state to open a little free library is believed to be in Lake County. Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Elizabeth Tavitas brought books up to her old courtroom in Gary, where Lake Superior Court Judge Tom Hallett now presides.

Other appellate court judges also latched on to the idea, realizing that people called before the court or for jury duty often have to wait around and that books could help pass the time.

Now, 13 Indiana counties have little free libraries in their courthouses.

Many appellate court judges have been involved in encouraging book donations for the little libraries.

Indiana Supreme Court Justice Derek Molter’s mom, Kate, has helped with donating coloring books and crayons.

Books are now waiting in the Statehouse to be sent out to the counties.

Vaidik said she is filling up judges’ cars with books to distribute when they travel to different parts of the state for oral argument hearings.

Idea originated in Kentucky

Indiana’s appellate court judges didn’t come up with the idea on their own.

Earlier this year the judges were planning to read “The Book Women of Troublesome Creek” by Kentucky author Kim Michele Richardson. They invited the author to join their discussion of the book on Zoom.

Instead of charging a fee for her time, Richardson asked the judges to donate books to the little free library in the Louisville courthouse.

“Never did I dream that it would be almost 250 books they would bring,” Richardson said.

Learning of Kentucky’s program, the Indiana judges decided to pursue a program of their own.

Richardson’s initiative “Courthouses Reading Across Kentucky & Beyond” was inspired by her novel “The Book Women of Troublesome Creek.”

“It was simply a way to honor the packhorse librarians and their important legacy,” Richardson said.

The historical fiction tells the story of a packhorse librarian and her quest to bring books to the Appalachian community.

In the 1930s, Kentucky women would deliver books to families as part of the Pack Horse Library Project. Eventually the project had 30 libraries serving 100,000 people.

It was implemented by the Works Progress Administration as part of the New Deal.

Richardson has reached 22 counties in Kentucky with the little library project and hopes to expand it to all of the state’s 120 counties.

“There’s so many that pass through the courthouse doors, and they’re economically oppressed, and they can’t afford to buy necessities, much less have the luxury of buying a book, or getting a book for a loved one or a child,” Richardson said.

Richardson said she’s also been contacted by officials in Ohio and California who are interested in starting their own programs.

And Indiana’s appellate judges stay in contact with her by sharing photos of the books they have collected.

“I think through all the division and disagreements in this charged and tumultuous world, books can really unite us,” Richardson said.•