by Kate Evans
For those who love to read in the Pleasant View community, there’s a new source of books to explore without going too far.
Pleasant View Elementary now has a Little Free Library at the school where people can access books to read any time. It’s located along the fence row under some trees as you pull into the school parking lot.
Pleasant View Elementary Principal Summer McClintock said they decided to build a Little Free Library since the closest public library branches are in Hedgesville and Berkeley Springs, which are seven miles and 10 miles away respectively.
“It aligned with our goal of making books more available to students,” McClintock said.
Pleasant View Elementary kindergarten teacher Casey Munson, her dad Mark Munson and her son Charlie Munson worked together as a family throughout the 2022-2023 school year to build the Little Free Library. It is designed to look like the original Pleasant View Elementary school building, which is now the Pleasant View Community Center.
The Pleasant View Little Free Library was completed and unveiled to students on May 30 for the Pleasant View Elementary Choose Your Own Adventure Day, McClintock said. They held a scavenger hunt which led students to the Little Free Library, which held copies of the winning book from their Battle of the Books, one for each student. The winning book was “Endlessly Ever After” by author Laurel Snyder and illustrator Dan Santat.
They then filled the Free Little Library with books for different ages for the summer. Staff member donated books to get it started, McClintock said. It has children’s books, some young adult books and a few adult books.
Casey Munson took photos of the Little Free Library being built, created a book with the photos and put it into the school library so families could see how the project came about, said McClintock.
It was great to have a community family work on it, she said. Casey’s Munson’s dad Mark went to school at the Pleasant View Community Center. The Munsons did a wonderful job of building the Little Free Library, McClintock said.
If people have Little Free Library book donations, they can drop them at the school during the day once school starts. Community members are asked to make sure that the books they donate are appropriate reading for children or adults. Staff checks the books periodically.
McClintock said it’s been neat to see families stopping by the Little Free Library to get a book. A couple of families sent them photos of them dropping off a couple books.
“The community is very excited. It’s exciting to see it being used,” McClintock said of the Little Free Library.
