If you walk too fast, you may miss it. The region’s newest library opened Friday, March 1 on the wall just left of the Community Center in the small mall.

Measuring about 2 feet by 1-1/2 feet, it joins the 80,000 little free libraries in more than 90 countries around the world, according to the non-profit organization Little Free Library. https://littlefreelibrary.org/ourhistory/

The library is a project of the Community Center and Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club. Todd Bol of Hudson, Wisconsin started the Little Free Library in 2009. He placed the first one in his front yard. The idea caught on and has grown across the U.S. and internationally.

“Bring One. Take One.”

The library contains small books, mostly paperbacks which are free to anyone who would like to take a book to read. The only request is to bring a book to leave behind, so those who don’t can't buy books or get to the local library when it’s open can still have books to read.

Betty Sullivan, Community Center volunteer, was asked to decorate it and she was delighted. “It was fun to think up the design and I enjoyed doing it,” she told the Boothbay Register.

Sullivan first looked up examples of little free libraries online to read more about them. But she had been thinking of a design even before she was asked. “Since it’s an awkward size, I wanted to use fabric applique,” she said.

“I wanted to reference that we are a fishing community,” she said, so one side uses fabric with a sea and shore design. The other side represents the Maine woods. Sullivan also found fabrics showing lupines and books.

After Dwight Lewis sanded and painted the library, Sullivan set to work last August. The work with fabric didn’t take her long, but the emery cloth used on the roof took some time. “I wanted it to look like the shingles that Penny Donovan put on the dollhouse,” she said.

According to Community Center President Shawn Lewin, local plans for a little free library started when the Rotary District Governor mentioned it during a meeting at Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club.

“Alice Mutch, our club president, loved the idea, and Patricia Royall had been thinking about the Chamber of Commerce introducing the same project, and asked The Community Center to assist,” he said. Jon Dunsford built three prototypes. One is now on the wall by the Community Center, with the help of Ernie Carver. He installed it.

Another prototype is with the Chamber, being decorated for a debut this spring and the third is available to any interested organization through Rotary for a sponsorship fee, Lewin said.

“There’s a lot more traffic in the area now with the Health Center,” Sullivan said. “And the Memorial Library is closed Sunday and Monday and its used book store is closed during the winter months. With (this), anyone can take a book, six days a week.”

Sullivan, of Boothbay, has always enjoyed libraries. Her first job was in one. The same is true for her daughter, Beth, so she had a special affinity for the project. Books came from those at the Community Center. Donations of books or financial contributions are welcome. For more information, call 633-9876.