Oneonta Rotary Club Installs Little Free Libraries

Jul. 13—The Oneonta Rotary Club celebrated its centennial year by building little free libraries at selected elementary schools in Oneonta.

Supporting education and literacy is a primary goal of the Oneonta Rotary Club, club members said. With the instillation of little free libraries, the Rotary Club promotes accessible literature within the community as children from fifth to eighth grade can exchange books year round and with no cost to the parents.

The Oneonta Rotary Club is a service organization composed of 74 volunteers who strive to maintain their motto, "service above self." Throughout the year they conducted 12 monthly projects and, for their centennial year, they celebrated by installing little free libraries at Greater Plains Elementary School, Riverside Elementary and Valleyview Elementary.

The building of the little free libraries was considered a more difficult project, said Carlton Cleveland, John Maine, Dave Rowley and Lynne Sessions, the organizers of the little free libraries installation and construction. "We were physically a smaller group and this particular project required more physical labor than most other ones we did this year," Sessions said. Overall, the project totaled 75 hours of work including preparation and installation of the libraries at the three elementary schools.

Another factor that made things difficult for the Rotary Club was collaborating with the schools to find a time to start the installation process, Sessions said. The idea for the project was first brainstormed in March by little free library committee member Marie Lusin,s and the Rotary Club had to wait until school ended in June to finish the project.

Some of the ways the Oneonta Rotary has supported education are through participating in the Rotary Youth Exchange, funding scholarships for graduating seniors and providing a variety of goods for children in need, including pencil packs, hygiene supplies and winter coats, hats and mittens. "This upcoming year we actually plan on doing a fundraiser for Operation Warm, an organization that provides winter coats for children in need," Cleveland said.

Although COVID-19 and the current economy made things difficult for the Oneonta Rotary, Sessions said the club has conducted many community service projects throughout the year such as supporting the Huntington Park Project by planting 100 daffodil bulbs and donating to the Rotary International Fund, which supports global service projects such as the "End Polio Now" effort.

Members said the Rotary runs on the principles known as "the four way test" which consists of four ideals, "Is it the truth, is it fair to all concerned, will it build good will and better friendships, and will it be beneficial to all concerned." The club is looking for new members. Those interested can attend meetings every Thursday from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Quality Inn in Oneonta, or visit the club's website at oneontarotary.org.

Alexis Ochi, staff writer, can be reached at aochi@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7213.