Little Library In Westfield Restored After Teens Destroyed It

WESTFIELD, NJ — After a group of teenagers vandalized a Westfield family's little library last week, the local community showed an outpouring of support.

As of Saturday, the Little Free Library at 710 East Broad Street is back up and running, thanks to owner Sara Liptack's husband who spent hours rebuilding the structure.

Liptack's camera footage from the little library and her front porch on Saturday, Oct. 8 showed that a group of teens pulled up in a car near the little library, got out and started body slamming into the structure, breaking the entire base.

Liptack said she filed a report with Westfield Police and said that the attack "felt very targeted."

Michael Walsh of Westfield Police told Patch said the three suspects caused approximately $100 worth of damage to the wood of the book stand.

Walsh said no description of the teenagers was listed in police report and that he has no further details at this time. He said the incident will be investigated by the Detective Bureau.

Read more: Teens Bodyslam, Destroy Little Library In Westfield

She said her husband built the library eight years ago with the goal of providing books to the community and "inspiring a love of literature."

She said her "soul was crushed" after the incident but thanked the community for the "outpouring of support" she received.

"I had no clue how much our library meant to this community and hearing personal stories of children falling in love with reading because of our shelves made everything make sense again," Liptack wrote on the little library's Facebook page.

Liptack said she hopes to have the shelves stocked with current adult best sellers or popular children's titles, such as graphic novels and favorite authors. She encouraged residents to give book donations.

"Our overstock is full, but we would love books that would be cherished as fantastic finds by our community!" she wrote.

She said books can be dropped off on her porch.

She said residents can also help her daughter, who she refers to as "Mini Steward," by supporting her Girl Scout Sale and donating a "Gift of Caring" to help energize troops overseas.

The link to order cookies is here: https://tinyurl.com/GSNutsAndMags.

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