First of five mini-libraries erected at Friendship House in southeast Bakersfield
Jul. 1—Children were being read to. Carpenters and their apprentices were working with wood. And everyone was watching a mini-community library be erected outside the front door of the Friendship House in southeast Bakersfield.
The germ of the idea came from Bakersfield City Councilman Eric Arias, who on Thursday joined with the Southwest Carpenters, the Kern, Inyo and Mono Building and Construction Trades Council, United Way of Kern County and the Community Action Partnership of Kern to install a community library at the community center on South Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Josh Taylor, lead representative with the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters, said illiteracy continues to be a problem in Bakersfield.
"Illiteracy has a major impact on community members being able to access well-paying jobs, wages and benefits," said Taylor, who cited statistics gathered by the U.S. Census showing that 14 percent of adults in Bakersfield lack basic literacy skills to perform daily job functions.
By building and stocking the mini-library on Thursday — and four more set to come at other locations — organizers said they hoped children in the community would more easily be able to borrow books for their enrichment and enjoyment.
"We've got individuals from all different ... generations out here today," Taylor said. "We've got retirees, we've got active carpenters and building trades members — and we've got our apprentices, the youngest generation out here attempting to learn a skill that will help them with a career later on in their lives."
All the labor in building the mini-wooden libraries was volunteer.
"What better gift to give than the gift of reading," Arias said.
"We wanted to do full circle," he said, by increasing opportunities in a part of the larger community that has too often been left behind.
"We know as we climb the ladder and we go on our lives, we want to open up more doors for other people."
He cited the MC3 Pre-Apprentice training program as an effective way to help young individuals navigate the path toward job security and learning lifelong skills.
"Behind me you'll see they are installing one mini-library," Arias said. "It'll be one of five that we'll be doing at community group centers throughout the city of Bakersfield."
After the white mini-library with its black roof was mounted securely, children lined up to press their paint-covered hands against the walls of the little library.
It's a personal connection that some hope will contribute to multiple efforts to open more doors to more neighborhoods and communities.
"Reading books, and the love of reading, are so fundamental to children's understanding of our world and (their) joy in being a part of it," CAPK CEO Jeremy Tobias said in a news release.
"We are so appreciative to have this free library installed at Friendship House Community Center," he said, "so the children and families we serve will be able to access books, share them and spread the love of reading."
Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.
