Bulldog Book Stations
Hi! My name is Adelyn and I started Bulldog Book Stations in my town of Crown Point, Indiana. I love to read and want to share this love with others.
I came up with this idea when my family took a trip to New Orleans in the summer of 2017. We were walking through a neighborhood when I started to see these colorful book boxes all over. I read what they were about and I just knew it- I HAD to have these in my city! The stations work as a library in a box, that is free to use. Readers visit the station with a book they have read and want to share, then swap it out with a book that is in the station. Readers can keep coming back as often as they like and finding new great books!
I told my mom and dad I wanted to put them up, but they told me it would be a lot of work. I wrote down all my ideas and presented it to the city council, who really liked my idea! I wanted to call them Bulldog Book Stations because our mascot is the Bulldog. I also wanted to paint them red for our school colors. I want people to recognize them wherever they are and know that they can go visit it for books. I know that not everyone can BUY new books all the time- they can get expensive!
After I got my project approved, I had to start looking for sponsors. I met with different groups, like the Fraternal Order of Police, and different businesses like Burns Funeral Homes, to ask for sponsorships. Everyone was willing to help me! The city even made nice posts for me and install all my boxes!
Each station costs $357.00 to buy. I order them from littlefreelibrary.org so that our city gets put on the world map of book stations. Included in that price is also a plaque for my sponsors’ names and a Bulldog Bookstation decal which I got to design! 
Then I needed to think of where to get all these books! Family and friends started to help me by giving me donations. I was able to set up a donation station at my school and I also started to purchase gently used books at Goodwill and other sales. I even cleaned out my own bookshelves to share some of my favorites! I had a lot of books to start with, but once my stations were up the books went fast! It takes about 30 regular size books to stock a station really nice.
My goal was to put up 6 book stations in my city. So far I have had 6 sponsors to pay for the 6 stations. Three book stations are up and running and we are still working with neighborhoods for three more locations.
I have to keep up with stocking the stations and it takes ALOT of books. Not everyone is able to exchange a book with the station. Sometimes they borrow one but don’t have any to swap out. I think that is okay- I just want people to be able to read books! But this means I sometimes visit the stations and the book supply is really low. I visit my stations each week to rotate and stock new books. Between my 3 stations I usually put out a box full of books a week into them. Thankfully I have still gotten lots of donations from church groups, former teachers, and really nice citizens in my community. I have still purchased some new good reads with some of the GoFundMe money already raised. There never seems to be enough teen books to stock with!
My goal is to continue to add as many stations as my community wants! I have already had one neighborhood ask for a second location and I am so excited about this!! This is a long term project that is going to take work and money each year. I will need to upkeep with fresh paint, do any repairs, put in new stations where they are requested, and buy new books when needed. I knew that this project might cost some money, but I just couldn’t give up. Any money I have raised will go into my special GoFundMe account for a rainy day fund of necessities, and for a monthly allowance to buy gently used/new books for my stations. I want to share my love of reading for a long time and I want to keep readers visiting my stations for new books!
I hope everyone finds something they love to read about just like I have!