WAUSA – Addison Wynia likes to keep tabs on what is going on at her local library and helping out however she can.
The two-year president of the Lied Lincoln Township Library’s Teen Advisory Board, or TAB, is in charge of a senior project for the Wausa facility, which is the installation of a new outdoor Little Free Library.
“I thought it would be really good for the library and help benefit the library and the community,” Wynia said.
Wynia came up with the idea for a Little Free Library after seeing them in other communities and talked with Lied Lincoln Township Library Director Wendy Ketelsen around the start of 2024 about it being a potential senior project.
According to the Little Free Library organization, there are other Little Free Libraries located in the nearby northeast Nebraska communities of Coleridge, Creighton, Magnet and Osmond.
“I thought it would be a nice little addition to add to our library,” Wynia said. “For when it’s not open, people can come as they please (to the Little Free Library).”
Little Free Libraries are book-sharing boxes that are open seven days a week, 24 hours a day, and are freely available to all, removing barriers to book access, according to the Little Free Library organization.
“You bring a book and you can take a book,” Wynia said. “It’s basically an exchange.”
Ketelsen said the Lied Lincoln Township Library will supply the first books – a variety for all ages – for the Little Free Library once it is completed.
“We will start it with books, but other people could also put books in it,” Ketelsen said. “As they take one, they can leave one if they want. It’s not just us providing the books; it’s the whole community. They take it; they can keep it if they want. If they want to read it and bring it back, they can do that. It’s up to them.”
Ketelsen explained Wynia’s senior project is the first of its kind for the Lied Lincoln Township Library.
“We have a summer reading program for teens where they can get a $100 scholarship,” Ketelsen said.
TAB members receive a $200 scholarship for doing the senior project.
Wynia, Jonathan Nissen and Vonel Anderson, Nissen’s grandfather, worked outside on June 3 to install the post into the ground for the Little Free Library just west of the Lied Lincoln Township Library.
Anderson, who built the puppet theater located inside the Lied Lincoln Township Library, constructed the two-level Little Free Library out of rustic old barn wood and wooden shingles, with a swinging door that will have a plastic window.
“Vonel’s made me several things for the library,” Ketelsen said, including a mailbox for Christmas letters to Santa Claus. “He’s just really been a good resource for the library when I need something built.”
Wynia expressed her gratitude everyone who helped her with the Little Free Library senior project and brought the idea to life including Anderson, Nissen, Ketelsen and Sheila Hoesing.
“It’s just a nice little addition to put outside, especially with the new patio,” Wynia said, adding she encourages people to utilize the Little Free Library when it is completed.
In addition to being involved in TAB, Wynia, the salutatorian and president of Wausa High School’s Class of 2024, was the Lied Lincoln Township Library intern for the past two summers, during which one of her primary projects was painting the sidewalks outside of the facility with colorful games.
“Wendy is the dealbreaker for me,” Wynia said of why she loves her local library so much. “She’s really shown me a lot here. She’s been a mentor to me. It just feels nice to help her out around the library in any way that I can help.”
