Public libraries and bookstores can be a privilege for some Durango School District 9-R students.

An initiative led by 9-R staff members, students and parents aims to change that by placing outdoor libraries at mobile home communities and schools around Durango. With broad community support, the Little Libraries project will expand underserved students’ access to books and extend their learning beyond the classroom.

“It’s to reach students that sometimes don’t have access to our public library,” said Karla Spangler, 9-R’s parent-guardian school liaison, who has led the efforts. “We have a great public library, but sometimes due to transportation or time they’re not able to go and grab a book. It was: How can we take that to them?”

The Little Libraries project has installed five libraries so far at Junction Creek Mobile Home Park, Valley West Mobile Park, Falfa Mobile Park, Durango Regency Mobile Park and Animas Valley Elementary School.

Students and volunteers are working together to place another three libraries at Westside Mobile Park, Apache Mobile Home Park and Animas View Mobile Home Park, Spangler said.

The libraries are free to use, and the students living in the mobile home communities can take any of the books home to read before returning them or switching them out for another.

School district staff members and students, parents and the broader Durango community have spent months building and installing the libraries. Maria’s Bookshop donated books for the project, and 9-R also held a communitywide book drive outside Durango High School.

Students in Bryan Bagdol’s woodshop class at Escalante Middle School and Sarah Sanchez Armstrong, a Spanish teacher at DHS, have partnered to build the library that will be installed at Westside Mobile Park. Armstrong’s students have been working to stock the library with Spanish-language books.

Student support for the Little Libraries project has been a boost to the project, and the community support has been overwhelming, Spangler said.

“It’s been really humbling to see the community come together and reach out to see how they could help. ... And having the students be part of it was really meaningful,” she said.

Volunteers with the Little Libraries project will continue to collect donations and rotate the books, restocking the libraries every few months. Spangler encouraged anyone who wants to donate books to simply place them in a library.

If the project continues to be successful, Spangler and those organizing the project will consider building more libraries for the underserved students in Durango.

The Little Libraries project meets a number of the school district’s goals, said Karla Sluis, spokeswoman for 9-R, including community service, diversity and inclusion, and its curriculum.

The school district commits to every student becoming a proficient reader by the third grade. Improving access to extracurricular reading for underserved students helps the district achieve its curriculum objectives, Sluis said.

“This is a really creative way to match that goal in a very concrete way,” she said.

Both Sluis and Spangler highlighted the difference books can make in cultivating curiosity and lifelong learning.

“I hope that it makes a difference for our students,” Spangler said. “Having those materials in your reach can change a lot in the way you see things.”

After months of work, the Little Libraries project is coming to fruition at the perfect time as students prepare to leave on summer break.

The project has already begun making a difference. When installing the first library, Spangler watched a young girl stop playing to pick out a book and sit on a swing and read.

“That’s just what you want to see,” Spangler said. “I don’t know if every kid is going to be interested in it, but even if a couple get more engaged with reading and literacy I think that will be amazing.”

ahannon@durangoherald.com