Some homes with children have no children’s books and families that do not visit libraries. To address this reality, in 2014 several Chester County residents established the “Laundromat Library League” (LLL) to collect, sort, and label good children’s books and place them in laundromats with invitations for children and caregivers to take them home. Rather than ask that the books be returned, the labels (in English and Spanish) request that the books be read and “passed on.”
Kendal resident Arlene Rengert was the co-founder of this remarkable organization. There is an interesting story behind the League’s origin.
A serendipitous start. One Friday back in 2014, Arlene happened to talk to another mother with children in the same school. They were talking about reading with children and lamenting the fact that kids in many families don’t have the experience of reading children’s books at home. They began brainstorming ideas of ways to get books to those families.
Among the ideas was putting books in laundromats. Laundromats typically serve apartment dwellers without their own laundry facilities. Such families are more likely to be low-income and less likely to own books. Laundromats were one idea among many the two mothers considered that day.
There was a dinner party the following day, Saturday, to which both women happened to have been invited. There, they overheard a real estate developer mention that he had just bought a building containing a laundromat. They approached him with their idea of providing children’s books in his laundromat, and he consented.
On the following day, Sunday, Arlene attended a discussion group at her church. She told the other participants about the laundromat idea, and one of them (a third-grade teacher) said she could provide three boxes of books the next day and could network to get more. Others offered to lead creation of attractive book boxes and/or to initiate book drives. Thus, within a few days of the idea the team had books, laundromat permission, and initial volunteers. By that Friday the first two laundromats were stocked with books. The Laundromat Library League was off and running one week after the idea was spoken!
Rapid growth. From a simple idea in 2014, the project gave itself a name and grew rapidly. Children’s books are collected, sorted, and labeled with bilingual invitations to read and pass on. Laminated signs placed on or near book containers carry this same message, and make it clear that the books need not be returned. With owner permission, decorated boxes of labeled books are placed in laundromats. Each book container, usually a decorated cardboard box, has 60 books covering all reading levels from toddler through teen. An illustrated Facebook page and interactive website (www.laundromatlibraryleague.org) promotes the development of sites in other areas, with the result that there now are laundromats with children’s books in 35 states and the U.S. Territory of Guam.
Sometimes the LLL learns specific reasons books in laundromats are appreciated. One laundromat on a Navajo reservation is “forty miles from the nearest library” and many residents lack cars, for example, and in Guam the 3 libraries in the area are only open from 9 to 3 on weekdays “when most parents are working or in school”.
Centered in the West Chester/Kennett area of Pennsylvania, the LLL ships collections of books to “stewards” (each of whom takes care of the books in one or more laundromats) in distant locations and offers guidelines and counselling for obtaining books locally. The is LLL incorporated as a 501c3 so that monetary donations are tax deductible and they have eligibility for grants to nonprofits. Donated money is used for three purposes: postage, when needed, to send books; rental of a storage facility for inventory storage and shipment activity; and purchase of books in Spanish and other needed categories when book donations are insufficient. In addition to laundromats, LLL sites can include food banks, clinics, and similar facilities in which caregivers and children spend time awaiting service.
An efficient process. Twelve years after co-founding the League, Arlene is still its president. She’s an excellent organizer and delegator. (Many of us learned that first-hand during Covid, when she organized a variety of mostly on-line activities. A notable accomplishment was the collecting and publishing of a volume of haiku poetry by residents.)
For the Laundromat Library League, she developed a two-tier organization of volunteers. One level is the “stewards”, who find an appropriate laundromat and secure permission to establish a “library” there, then visit a couple of times a month to replenish the books and keep the collection tidy.
A core team of twelve specialists, also volunteers, takes care of everything that is required to keep the process going and the stewards supplied with books. One volunteer knows how to buy books inexpensively, in bulk. Another knows the best way to package and ship them. Another assesses the condition of donated books. Two others maintain the inventory of books, which are kept in rented storage units until they are needed. Another keeps the financial books of the League. And so on.
Between the stewards, the core team, and a wide range of donors, the League involves about 950 people nationwide.
Recently, the local newspaper here had a front page article to inform people in this area about the LLL. It has a few more specifics.
You can help. New locations are needed! If you can recruit and steward a laundromat or similar site, know that the LLL will supply the books. See www.laundromatlibraryleague.org for “how-to” pages that will guide you into participation, or email laundromatlibrary@gmail.com and someone will respond to your inquiry.
On the Kendal Journey 