Blogfinger

Caitlin Wood-Yesline at her free book library at Pilgrim Pathway and Embury. Paul Goldfinger photo. Oct. 3, 2014. Ocean Grove. ©

Ben Franklin at the University of Pennsylvania (which he founded in 1740)

American Library Association celebrates new stamp 1982

By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger

Ben Franklin is famous for many things, and one of those was to found the Library Company of Philadelphia in 1731, which became the predecessor of free public libraries in America. Back then there were relatively few books in the colonies, and Franklin, a man of modest means, thought that intellectual progress could be fostered by having places where people could tap into published knowledge by reading and borrowing books at no charge. So Ben got a few of his friends together, and the rest is—you guessed it: history.

Today we have a deluge of books, but less people read print books due to the invention of the Kindle and other digital sources. Yet many readers enjoy actual books and sometimes they can’t afford them or the local library is deficient in choices.

Enter Caitlin Wood-Yesline, an optometrist, who lives at 67 Pilgrim Pathway. Caitlin is an avid reader and she discovered that she had many books that she wanted to share with others.   So, a couple of years ago, she decided to put a small bookcase along her retaining wall at her corner with Embury Avenue. She thought that beach goers might want to grab a book as they trudged by, reading chairs in hand.

She put up a sign saying “free books,” and the “fun” began. Caitlin and her husband Jeff found that their Franklinesque project was growing, and soon people were bringing their books to her miniature free public library, and exchanges began.

Caitlin “loves the feel of the paper” and she enjoys the literary adventure that she created at her corner location. Sometimes people steal her sign or even her bookcases, but she doesn’t care.   The whole process of people who want to read books coming to visit her “library” gives her pleasure, and she continues it all year, weather permitting.

Soon the Neptune Public Library will have a new director, so we may see some changes over there, but, regardless, Caitlin’s miniature Ocean Grove free public library branch might inspire others to emulate her and her historic inspiration Ben Franklin .

Editor’s Note:  The Neptune Public Library (25  Neptune Boulevard) will accept used “current” books in good condition —they take hard cover and paperback.  I guess Huck Finn and The Sun Also Rises would not be acceptable.   Take your classics to Caitlin—-PG

BOBBY DARIN  “I ‘m mad about good books—can’t get my fill”