CLEVELAND — A new Little Free Library was installed Friday at the Haven Home homeless shelter for women and children on Cleveland's east side. The library, filled with children’s books, was a gift from the Greater Cleveland Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.
And today (Sept. 30), sorority sisters from the Delta alumnae chapter will fan out across the city to five Cleveland recreation centers, where they will give away books, literacy resources and lunch between 12-2 p.m. The five rec centers are Collinwood, Cudell, Frederick Douglass, Lonnie Burten and Zelma Watson George.
It’s all part of a week-long literacy project the Greater Cleveland Alumnae Chapter is putting on, as part of the Delta Midwest Day of Service. Other activities included a zoom lecture about “Censorship, Banned Books and Black Erasure.”
During a recent interview on WKYC Studios’ We the People show, sorority members talked about what motivated them to plan and present the series of community literacy activities.
Said chapter social action chair Meredith Turner, who is a Cuyahoga County councilwoman, "Our children are not reading at grade level. Having access to books is important,” which is why the sorority chose to install the Little Free Library and also pass out free books throughout the city.
“Social action is what we do in Delta Sigma Theta,” said chapter President Melonie Frazier.
The sorority partnered with Executive Director Paul Fitzpatrick of CleveLawn-Home to install the library. The CleveLawn-Home nonprofit is dedicated to reducing poverty and violence by hiring ex-offenders and giving them training and work experience in renovation, landscaping and other fields.
