MANSFIELD — The volunteers behind the Laundry Basket Library project have one mission — to make reading materials easily available to everyone in Mansfield.
The grassroots literacy program has served the community for two decades with free book distribution sites throughout the city. The project is run entirely by volunteers, most of whom are retired seniors with a background in education. Nearly all the books are donated — the group does not solicit grants or financial aid.
“When people hear that there’s a place where they can give their books, they give them,” said Joyce Adair, one of the group’s founding volunteers. “We’ve picked up books from church rummage sales and filled up the car to the point where I can’t go along with my husband to pick them up because he needs the front seat in an SUV.”
Occasional monetary donations are used to buy books at garage sales or purchase board books for infants and toddlers, which rarely get passed along.
Project coordinator Debra McKee founded the Laundry Basket Library in June 2001 while she was working as a parent involvement coordinator at Mansfield City Schools.
“If you want children to be able to read, they have to have books,” McKee said. “Joyce and I both were working for Mansfield City Schools and that’s a real concern in our district, that they don’t have all the books they need in their home.”
The project started with just two distribution sites, but over the years expanded to include 26 locations across Mansfield. Volunteers sort and deliver books to laundromats, supermarkets, bus stations, shelters, clinics and other spots around town.
At its beginning, LBL focused solely on young children’s books. That changed when community members began requesting books for older children and adults.
“Oftentimes, we make the mistake of thinking adults in the home aren’t interested in reading, but it can be a limited access to reading material,” Adair said.
Providing reading materials for adults also indirectly benefits children, Adair added.
“It’s not just that we have to give children access to books; they have to grow up in a culture of reading,” she explained. “When children grow up and see their parents reading and then they see reading is a vital part of their lives, they tend to think this is important and they read.”
Distribution involves more than just driving around town, dropping off books. The workers thoughtfully sort the books beforehand so that each site has materials appropriate for a variety of ages and interests.
“One time we were making a delivery at one of the convenience stores and a woman said, ‘Do you any books on prenatal care?’ She knew somebody was pregnant and needed a book. So we found one and made sure that we delivered that next time,” Adair said.
Members of the LBL’s volunteer force have countless stories of connecting with patrons over a specific book or genre. They even share them in a monthly newsletter.
Susie Ryckman recalled a conversation she had during a delivery with an employee at a laundromat.
“I was putting the books in the basket and the lady came over, thanked me and said, ‘I just cannot tell you enough how much I appreciate you giving us these books,'” Ryckman shared. “She had either three or four grandchildren and she said had it not been for those books and her reading to them every night, they probably still wouldn’t be reading.”
Prior to COVID-19, LBL volunteers were distributing about 1,000 books per month. Then the pandemic hit, forcing the group to adapt.
“We couldn’t safely get into Sherman School, where our Laundry Basket Library operation is housed, to sort and pack our books,” McKee said. “We didn’t want to jeopardize the students’ health, our volunteers’ health or those patrons sorting through our baskets of books at different establishments all over Mansfield.”
At the time, public health experts were advising that COVID-19 transmission could occur through touching contaminated surfaces. (The CDC now says the risk of transmission by touch is low.)
Laundry Basket Library volunteers began meeting in smaller groups, wearing masks and sometimes working outdoors, to sort books into packets that could be isolated for a number of days and then distributed by partner organizations.
Volunteers assembled between 300 and 400 packets per session. These packets were distributed during Mansfield City Schools’ meal giveaways, at a local apartment complex, at the Friendly House’s after school programming and during daily meals for the homeless at a local shelter.
Laundry Basket Library also partnered with Mansfield City Schools’ Title 1 teachers and SAFE, a program for homeless students.
Volunteer advocates for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) took bags with them on home visits. Gorman Nature Center added LBL books to their take-home packets for kids. Simply EZ Meals, a meal delivery service for seniors, took free books to clients who wanted them.
The City of Mansfield Parks Department gave away 400 LBL bags during its summer parks program. Each bag contained a board book, two picture books, two chapter books and a book for adults.
“We’ve had to think outside the box, but I think we’ve all had fun doing it. It’s really been good,” McKee said.
While they hope to restart laundry basket deliveries soon, the team plans to continue utilizing their pandemic partnerships in the future.
“I can’t see it going back to exactly the way it was before because of the kinds of partnerships we’ve developed and because we’ve seen some systematic ways we can get books into the hands of families,” Adair said.
Research has shown that access to books can have a positive impact on literacy. One study found that children who participated in a free book program earned higher early language and math scores on kindergarten assessments, even after allowing for other key factors associated with kindergarten readiness.
Despite positive feedback from the community, Adair said she’s heard concerns that the project may discourage families from visiting public libraries.
“We take just the opposite point of view,” Adair said. “When families are connected to books and have easy access to books, they may take the next step and get a library card and start visiting the library.
“We’re looking at it as a way to develop partnerships with people who want to develop a culture of reading across the whole community. We’re not in competition with anyone.”
If you would like to donate books to the Laundry Basket Library, call Debra McKee at 419- 566- 5091.
