Marlborough Hospital Adds Little Free Library To Boost Literacy

MARLBOROUGH, MA — Marlborough Hospital Thursday dedicated a new outpost aimed at providing literacy resources to the community.

The hospital installed a little free library on the front lawn of the campus at 157 Union St. The "impact library" will be stocked with health and wellness materials available for anyone to take home.

"We are facing a growing literacy crisis. Today in the U.S., more than 30 million adults cannot read or write above a third-grade level. Studies have repeatedly shown that books in the hands of children have a meaningful impact on improving literacy. The more books in or near the home, the more likely a child will learn and love to read. But two out of three children living in poverty have no books to call their own," the hospital said about the reason it set up the little library.

Little free libraries have popped up across the U.S. in recent years backed by the Minnesota-based nonprofit Little Free Library. The small huts are stocked with materials that anyone can take home. The little libraries are also open for people to donate books to, and are open 24/7.

The Marlborough Hospital library will stock books in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole. Marlborough recently accepted more than two dozen families through the state's right-to-shelter system. Many of the new residents are from Haiti.