Plattwood Park has been an important element in Deep River’s landscape for years. What originated as a simple lake for residents to enjoy in the summer evolved into a park offering volleyball nets, a baseball field, a skate park, and now, a Little Free Library.

Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization that “inspires a love of reading, builds community, and sparks creativity by fostering neighborhood book exchanges around the world,” according to its website littlefreelibrary.org. Program participants erect a small kiosk that’s available 24/7, for free, to anyone who’d like to pick up or drop off a book.

Kim Olson, a Deep River resident, was introduced to the organization by her daughter Shelby. She suggested to the Parks & Recreation Commission that a Little Free Library be put in at the gatehouse at Plattwood Park, on Winthrop Road, Deep River.

After getting the go-ahead, Kim Olson recruited her son Thomas and husband Jim to help as well. Together the Olsons picked a prebuilt library from Little Free Library’s website and put it together, stained it, and delivered it to Deep River’s town crew. The crew then attached the donated library to the left side of Plattwood’s gatehouse where it is easily accessible to all.

While Kim Olson credited her entire family with the donation, she will be the steward of Plattwood’s Little Free Library, maintaining the library on a weekly basis.

When registering a new library with the Little Free Library organization, stewards are given the option to choose the age level for the books being offered. She chose to register Plattwood’s library under “all” since the books that have already been donated are a mixture of children and young adult. This wide variety will cater not only to the kids spending their summers at the lake, but to their adult guardians as well.

Locally, Bushy Hill Nature Center gained a Little Free Library last spring; there are additional libraries in Old Saybrook, Westbrook, and Clinton.

The support and positive reaction to this addition has led the town to consider putting more libraries up around town.

Plattwood’s Little Free Library library is already filled with books donated by the Olson family and others. For more information on Deep River’s newest library and other local Little Free Libraries, visit littlefreelibrary.org.