Washington Youth Group create intergenerational library as members encourage community reading

The Little Onion Club has worked with residents at Donwell Care Home, in Washington to create a library for the community outside the care home as well as one for residents inside the home.

The outdoor library is open to use for the community and features both adult and children books, which were kindly donated by The Rotary Club of Washington.

The idea behind the community initiative is to leave a book, take a book and read a book, to encourage reading within the Washington community, and bring people together.

Kim Scott, Director of The Little Onion Club said: “We started making these libraries before Christmas as we thought it would be a great idea for the local community to have access to free books as well as leaving or swapping a book.

“We would love the children at The Little Onion Club to be able to eventually be able to sit down and read to the residents of Donwell Care Home. We have also set up a little sensory area with bean bags where the children can relax and read.”

The Little Onions Club is an intergenerational youth group programme which provides gardening activities and workshops for children, working with care home and elderly residents to support the local community wherever possible.

As well as creating an outdoor library for the community, the group also made a library inside Donwell Care specifically for residents.

The library also features a fancy dress rail of memorable fictional faces so children can get into character when reading and immerse themselves in their favourite books.

This is the second area in Washington where the group has created a community library and they are already making plans to create more, according to group director Kim Scott.

She added: “These libraries go hand in hand with another one we made at Willowbrook assisted living facility and we are hoping to make more outdoor libraries and donate them to villages around Washington.”

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