The village of Rye Brook and The BRIDGE School at Cerebral Palsy Center of Westchester (CPW) hosted the grand opening of a Little Free Library in Pine Ridge Park, Mohegan Lane in Rye Brook, on Tuesday, May 18. Children”™s book author Leslie Kimmelman joined Rye Brook Mayor Paul Rosenberg, BRIDGE School students and staff, park staff, friends and families at the ceremony.
For several years, the village has had a goal of putting a Little Free Library in this park. So, when CPW approached Rye Brook Administrator Chris Bradbury in 2019 about a high-school student at CPW”™s BRIDGE School wanting to build a Little Free Library as part of his senior project, the village formed a partnership. The student, Elijah Roberts, now a graduate of The BRIDGE School and currently attending a college program, hoped the library would be a place where children and adults could read and borrow books, with the goal of encouraging community members to share their love of reading with one another.
Rye Brook Mayor Paul Rosenberg said, “We believe that putting a Little Free Library near the playground in this park is ideal as parents can read a book while the children are playing, kids can read a book to relax and/or parents can read with their kids in the park. It will be available to anyone of all ages who visits this active park.”
To jump-start the project, The Mid Westchester Elks Lodge #535, sponsor of CPW”™s Adaptive Boy Scout Troop 535 donated a seed-grant. Additional funds were raised by local residents through a Go-Fund-Me. With the guidance of BRIDGE School social worker Maria Savino, Scout Leader Jay Singer of The Mid Westchester Elks, support of the Rye Brook administration and others, the library was completed.
Little Free Library is a nonprofit agency that “builds community, inspires readers and expands book access for all through a global network of volunteer-led little libraries. Through Little Free Library book exchanges, millions of books are exchanged each year, profoundly increasing access to books for readers of all ages and backgrounds.”
The BRIDGE School at Rye Brook, a division of Cerebral Palsy of Westchester, is a special education center serving students with multiple disabilities.
