Residents seek to bring Little Basketball Libraries to more Eau Claire parks

Sep. 5—EAU CLAIRE — The concept began 12 years ago when Little Free Libraries started popping up in neighborhoods around the world.

Chad Rowekamp of Eau Claire expanded the free exchange model last winter when he built a Little Free Sled Library at the city's Seven Bumps Hill.

This summer Tom Regez, who lives a block from Rowekamp on the East Side Hill, took the sharing epidemic to a new level when he installed Little Basketball Libraries in not one, not two, but five Eau Claire parks.

The basketball "libraries" involve a metal basket attached to hoop post and filled with four or five basketballs. A sign above reads "Little Basketball Library. Have fun! Return when done."

Regez said he was inspired by the positive reception to Rowekamp's sled exchange and thought the idea would work just as well for basketball, a sport he played for many years.

"I found a little rack I thought might work, filled it with basketballs and threw one up at Boyd Park around Easter," said Regez, who funded the project himself. "It seemed like people were using it, so I did five of them."

The other parks where he installed the basketball libraries were Demmler, Kessler, North Riverfront and Newell. All of them appear to be accomplishing his goal — encouraging people to get outside and play some hoops.

Regez recalled the excitement as a boy of getting a basketball as a gift from his parents but said he recognizes that some kids weren't fortunate enough to have access to their own ball — until now.

"It's just giving people the opportunity to have a ball available," Regez said. "The idea is that if you're going by and you see a ball, you might stop and play."

Rowekamp, president of the East Side Hill Neighborhood Association, was thrilled to get the assist and see Regez take the sharing concept to the hoop.

"Ever since the one went up in Boyd Park, I've seen the balls used a lot," Rowekamp said.

Indeed, the lightweight racks, made for home use, have been so popular that they have suffered some damage.

After noticing one of the racks at Newell Park, Rowekamp got to talking about the possibility of building more durable basketball libraries with Brad Candell, president of the Shawtown Neighborhood Association.

While they were at it, the pair wondered: Why limit the libraries to just basketballs?

The result, supported by Regez, is that Rowekamp and Candell, after getting approval from the city Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department, plan to ramp up the sharing concept even further by fabricating heavy-duty steel racks and filling them with basketballs, soccer balls and kick balls.

The intent is to install the new racks next spring in 13 city parks.

"I think anything that gets more people to use the parks and get outside is great," Rowekamp said. "At the end of the day, it's just another way to build community."

And that goal, for almost everybody, is a slam dunk.