Golden Lake – Jennifer Wiertel loves to read and her dream of creating a free, large lending and exchange library was made a reality this summer by her husband, Mathew Felske, and it is already creating quite a reading buzz in the area.
“I love the idea of little free libraries and in our community, we have no library so this is a way of sharing books with others,” she explained.
The Postyard Bookhouse, on a stretch of Highway 60 in the quiet hamlet of Golden Lake, has only been open for about six weeks, but it has already become a busy hub where people take a book, drop off a book – or box of books – and celebrate the joy of reading. It is located outside what locals call the postyard in Golden Lake. This is a wood manufacturing operation where posts are made for things like fences and docks and there is also a sawmill where custom cut lumber can be purchased, among other things.
The Postyard Bookhouse is all about the free exchange of books and users are encouraged to take a book, share a book and tell others about the bookhouse.
“People don’t have to worry about how long they keep a book, but they can just read it and return it if they want to or keep it and bring other books to share,” she said.
The project was truly a joint effort by the couple, who live adjacent to the location of the bookhouse. She had been pondering trying to find a good use for her collection of books and wanted to have a free lending library.
“I had read most of my books and I asked Mat to build something,” she said.
While the free lending libraries which are in smaller format and located in many communities was something she explored, she wanted something bigger because access to books can be a bit harder in a small rural hamlet like Golden Lake.
“Our closest libraries are Eganville and Killaloe,” she said. “In our community there is no library.”
Mr. Felske, who works in the adjacent postyard, not only had the skills but the ability to access lumber, so he built a small shed with a door, lots of shelves and a window. He kept it rustic, and he had a lot of questions about it when he was building it.
“It looks like an outhouse,” he said with a laugh. “So, people kept asking me what I wanted for it.”
The bookhouse has shelves on two sides and bins with children’s books on the bottom. It can house up to 400 books. To fill it initially they used their own collection of books and also purchased some books from library sales and other spots.
“I think we donated about 500 books ourselves,” she said.
The couple opened the bookhouse in early July and let people in the community know and quickly word spread.
“We did not know if it would work,” he admitted.
However, the response has been great.
“The amount of people who come is amazing,” he said. “We always see people stopping by.”
They have noticed people stopping by and in the evenings when they do a check, they can see how many books are moving.
“It changes all the time,” she said.
“We get a lot of kids books and that is great because that is what we are going for,” he added.
Sometimes, they have a chance to talk to people who stop by.
“We are getting people from all over,” she said. “Locals, cottagers and tourists. With Highway 60 we have a lot of people passing by.”
People keep donating books. They drop off books or if they know the couple, give them books.
“We ran into some folks from North Bay at a yard sale and when I told them what the books were for they came by to check it out,” she said. “And they have been telling other people too.”
This is really a community bookhouse for the couple and they have been receiving a lot of community support. They have not only had donations of books but also bookmarks, including some specifically made for young children.
For Mr. Felske, he loves the fact this bookhouse has a “Valley” feel too it. He said his grandmother, who loved to read, would have gotten quite the kick out of it.
The Postyard Bookhouse will be open all year. Mr. Felske said he plows the snow in the winter in that yard, and it will be kept open with easy access. There is also lots of parking because the bookhouse is located where the parking area for the Golden Lake Tavern used to be.
With the response they have received, she is hoping interest in reading will expand.
“My thought for next summer is to have a silent book club,” she added.
The silent book club would let people bring a chair, have a social time of chatting for half an hour and then people can read their books in silence, just enjoying being together.
For now, seeing the books coming and going and people stopping by makes her really happy.
“This is something I really enjoy,” Ms. Wiertel said. “It is a passion.”
Sometimes people make requests for certain things. Right now, she is on the hunt for comedy books. Children’s books are always important and if she knows someone is looking for something she tries to keep an eye out for it.
“But just come back, because the books are constantly changing,” she added.
The Postyard Bookhouse is located at 11122 Highway 60, Golden Lake.
