Catawba Library

The Catawba Library in Rock Hill, South Carolina will establish The Catawba Nation Little Free Libraries Project. The project will build, install and maintain five no-cost book-sharing boxes to improve literacy rates among tribal citizens, especially children, by increasing access to books, fostering and strengthening a sense of community, and driving greater visitor traffic to the Catawba tribal library. Box locations on the Catawba Reservation will include the Nation’s Head Start, Teen Center, Senior Center, and two additional high-traffic, high-visibility locations to be identified based on community need. Each Little Free Library will function as a community- based literacy hub, offering a rotating supply of books for children, youth, and adults, including Native-authored and culturally relevant materials. Primary project deliverables include the installation and stewardship of multiple Little Free Library book-sharing boxes on the Catawba Reservation, the distribution of culturally relevant and Native-authored books for children, youth, and adults, and the development of a community-informed evaluation process to track reading engagement and community impact.