SPRINGFIELD – On her daily walk with her mom and little sister, Meadow Menard found something new – a little library.
The 7-year-old opened the door and spotted an interesting picture book. She grabbed it and walked across her neighbor’s lawn while flipping through the pages of “Old Turtle,” by Douglas Wood.
In the three weeks since Kathy Balakier opened the little library in front of her home on Saratoga Avenue, she has met new neighbors, caught one person donating a few books in the early morning and even witnessed a family spread out on her front lawn and the empty tree belt across the street reading books.
“I think sharing and being kind is so important,” Balakier said, adding she is so excited to see her little library be so well received by children and adults alike.
Balakier, now retired from a long career of teaching mostly elementary school science in several Springfield schools, including William DeBerry, Homer Street and Talmadge, had seen “little libraries,” especially when vacationing on the Connecticut shore. She always wanted one.
Recently a friend heard her say that and gave her a premade box as a gift. Another friend, retired Fire Dept. Capt. Mark Galarneau, built the base for the box. Her husband, City Councilor George Balakier, then painted the box eye-catching red, yellow and blue.
The “Free Little Library” at the Balakier home on Saratoga Ave. in Chicopee. (Don Treeger / The Republican) 9/14/2023
The couple put a bench below it, inviting people to stay and read. A flag, which Kathy Balakier found online, says “Take a book, leave a book, love a book, keep a book.”
Giving back
About two years ago, Balakier become seriously ill and needed a liver transplant. When no relatives turned out to be a match for her, her family went public to find a live donor who could give a piece of their liver and save her life. The campaign worked and she is now doing well.
“I wanted to thank my neighbors and my community for all they did for me,” she said. “This is a way of bringing people together.”
While they give people who stop by space to browse on their own, the Balakiers said they have enjoyed meeting neighbors who may live a street or two away who have stopped at the library to swap out books.
Breanna Menard, who lives around the corner from the Balakiers and often walks with Meadow and her younger daughter Summer, 2, said they appreciate the mini library. She said her children have visited several times and recently enjoyed a “Finding Dory” puzzle book they borrowed and later returned.
“This is our daily walking route and it (the library) turned up one day and we were really excited,” she said.
They often will walk farther to the Chicopee Public Library nearby on Front Street, but the little streetside box of books gives her family another place to borrow, Menard said.
It’s not just neighbors who have gotten involved. Friends have offered books to her. Recently, a former teacher who swims at the Greater Holyoke YMCA with the Balakiers offered them a box of classics and a second box filled with Dr. Seuss books that they are thrilled to add to their collection.
At the “Free Little Library” on Saratoga Ave. in Chicopee are from left, George Balakier, his sister Linda Balakier, wife Linda and neighbors Breanna Menard with children Meadow, 7, and Summer, 2. They are at the Balakier home. (Doni Treeger / The Republican) 9/14/2023
Balakier tries to have a little bit of everything in her library. There are books for adults, some for teens, chapter books for older elementary school children and picture books for the youngest readers.
On one recent day she had books from popular adult authors such as Tom Clancy and Agatha Christie for adults and for children there was one from Judy Blume, another by R.L. Stine from his popular “Goosebumps” series and a book by Lemony Snicket that Balakier had just put in the box.
While books in the library naturally rotate as people “take a book and leave a book,” Balakier said she tries to rotate in new books often, so people who visit get to see something new every time.
She is also putting aside books so she can add in different themes for holidays and seasons.
Linda Balakier also stopped by to see how the library was going. As a former vice principal at the Patrick E. Bowe School, she said she was thrilled to see her brother and sister-in-law helping to promote reading — and getting books into the hands of children.
“It is great. It is a nice, neighborly thing to do,” she said.
George Balakier said the box weathered a recent blow, when major thunderstorms brought flash flooding to the region. He covered the box to protect books from the driving rain, but so far the box has proved to be waterproof.
They plan to take it down in the winter, figuring it may not weather heavy snows and don’t want it damaged by snowplows.
Since they have received so many donations, he is now considering building an addition to the Little Library by adding a lower box that would hold children’s books, especially picture books, which younger readers can reach by themselves.
Kathy Balakier is also brainstorming about ideas to promote the library when families come by trick-or-treating on Halloween.
“J.K. Rowling once said ‘I do believe something magical can happen when you read a good book,’” Kathy Balakier said.
And that seems to have come true, at least for the Balakiers.
“I can’t tell you how happy this has made us,” she said.
