Howard Grossman, former Pittston Memorial Library fundraiser, and Lois Ostrowski, library board member, sit behind a mini library box to be placed in City of Pittston. As many as 10 boxes will be available for use in the city.
                                 Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch

Howard Grossman, former Pittston Memorial Library fundraiser, and Lois Ostrowski, library board member, sit behind a mini library box to be placed in City of Pittston. As many as 10 boxes will be available for use in the city.

Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch

<p>Pittston Area art students decorated Pittston Memorial Library mini library boxes to be placed throughout the City of Pittston. The boxes will contain books to be loaned out and returned for free in the community. From left: Frank Victor, Pittston Area Industrial Arts instructor; Emma Rhodes, art student; Natalie Syms, art student; and Judy Greenwald, art instructor. </p>
                                 <p>Submitted Photo</p>

Pittston Area art students decorated Pittston Memorial Library mini library boxes to be placed throughout the City of Pittston. The boxes will contain books to be loaned out and returned for free in the community. From left: Frank Victor, Pittston Area Industrial Arts instructor; Emma Rhodes, art student; Natalie Syms, art student; and Judy Greenwald, art instructor.

Submitted Photo

PITTSTON — An idea to create neighborhood mini library boxes to be placed in several neighborhoods throughout the city is slowly coming to fruition.

A prototype of the first mini library was shown in 2022 when then Pittston Memorial Library (PML) Sustainability Campaign chair Rob Bresnahan purchased and donated two boxes for effort.

Many communities throughout the country have mini libraries, often referred to as micro libraries, community bookshelves, or book boxes, have proven to be successful.

“The mini libraries are a great way to promote PML and to give credit to Pittston Area in partnering in the project,” Howard Grossman, former PML Sustainability Campaign, co-chair, said.

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Pittston Area School District industrial arts students, under the direction of Frank Victor and art department students, led by Judy Greenwald, have been involved in creating and decorated two more mini library boxes from scratch.

“Frank Victor, the shop teacher at the (Pittston Area) high school built two of them for us,” Lois Ostrowski, PML Board member, said. “They are double the size of the original library boxes and the art students painted them all. Piera Marotto, of the Pittston Art Council, painted one of the boxes as well.”

According to Ostrowski, the value of each box, which has to be waterproof and wind proof, is over $350.

The idea of the mini library boxes is for people to borrow a book to read and promptly return it upon completion.

“Boxes will be placed strategically throughout the city,” Grossman added.

“We may even place a box at a school with age-appropriate books available,” Ostrowski said.

PML is hoping to eventually have eight-to-10 mini library boxes spread out throughout the city.