Catawba County Public Health has added a Little Free Library location at the building’s front entrance to promote early child literacy.

Little Free Libraries are small book exchange boxes and can be found in more than 100 countries worldwide and in approximately 20 locations in Catawba County. Now, a new Little Free Library at Public Health (3070 11th Avenue Drive SE, Hickory) has joined the movement to share books, bring people together and create communities of readers.

Books are donated and placed in the Little Free Library box and are available for anyone to pick up. Individuals are encouraged to donate books and take books home to read. The Little Free Library is also supported by the Catawba County Partnership for Children. The Partnership maintains 15 Little Free Libraries across the county, keeping them full of children’s books as well as a variety of educational games for children.

The box at Public Health was painted by Cameron McNally, an accomplished artist and freshman at St. Stephens High School. Additional Little Free Library locations can be found at https://littlefreelibrary.org/map/.