It's such a happylooking library, painted yellow, decorated with palmtree stickers and sheltered from the Florida sun by its own roof. About the size of a microwave oven, it's pedestrianfriendly, too, waiting for book lovers next to a sidewalk in Palm Beach Country Estates, along the northern boundary of Palm Beach Gardens.
It's a library built with love.
A year ago, shortly after Janey Henriksen saw a Brian Williams report about the Little Free Library organization, a Wisconsinbased nonprofit that aims to promote literacy and build a sense of community in a neighborhood by making books freely available, she announced to her family of four, “That's what we're going to do for our spring break!”
Son Austin, now a 10thgrader, didn't see the point of building a library that resembles a mailbox. But Janey insisted, and husband Peter unwillingly got to work. The 51yearold owner of a ship supply company modified a small wooden house that he'd built years earlier for daughter Abbie's toy horses, and made a door of glass.
After adding the library's final touches(裝點), the family hung a signboard on the front, instructing users to “take a book, return a book,” and making the Henriksen library, now one of several hundred like it nationwide and among more than 2,500 in the world, the only Little Free Library in Palm Beach County.
They stocked it with 20 or so books they'd already read, a mix of science fiction, reference titles, novels and kids' favorites. “I told them, keep in mind that you might not see it again,” said Janey, a stayathome mom.
Since then, the collection keeps replenishing(補充) itself, thanks to ongoing donations from borrowers. The library now gets an average of five visits a day.
The project's best payoff, says Peter, are the thankyou notes left behind. “We had no idea in the beginning that it would be so popular.”
小題1:In what way is the library “pedestrianfriendly”?
A.It owns a yellow roof. |
B.It stands near a sidewalk. |
C.It protects book lovers from the sun. |
D.It uses palmtree stickers as decorations. |
小題2:Janey got the idea to build a library from ________.
A.a visit to Brian Williams |
B.a spring break with her family |
C.a book sent by one of her neighbors |
D.a report on a Wisconsinbased organization |
小題3:The library was built ________.
A.by a ship supply company |
B.on the basis of toy horses |
C.like a mailbox |
D.with glass |
小題4:What can we infer from the signboard?
A.It was made by a user of the library. |
B.It marked a final touch to the library. |
C.It aimed at making the library last long. |
D.It indicated the library was a family property. |
小題5:The passage tells us that the users ________.
A.donate books to the library |
B.get paid to collect books for the library |
C.receive thankyou notes for using the library |
D.visit the library over 5 times on average daily |