The Stone Soup Library in Allison Hill

10/27/2014 (Permalink)

by Tara Leo Auchey and Andrea Fetchko

On the 1600 block of Catherine Street in South Allison Hill is a house in a row with other like houses. However, this one is set apart by a bookshelf on the porch filled with a variety of children’s paperbacks and hardbacks and a handwritten sign beside the door:

A book, I think, is very like
A little golden door that takes me into places
Where I’ve never been before.
It leads me into fairyland
Or countries strange and far
And, best of all, that golden door
It always stands ajar!

It’s the Stone Soup Library.

“Kids playing on the porch changed it all.”

It began in March 2013. Shelley and Jesse Blade stocked their front porch with children’s books for the kids who lived near them. Where they live is considered “a bad part of town.” While that reputation undermines the positive things that are there, the neighborhood is definitely not without its troubles. A shuttered school and overgrown lot scattered with trash across the street has been the scene of fights and misconduct. Disrepair, neglect, and sad stories are familiar to the block.

When the Blades moved here from the West Coast about a year ago, it didn’t take long for them to realize the good and the bad.

One of the good things they discovered was the City of Refuge Church. It was there they found assistance they needed to help get them on their feet in this new place. “The lines were long of people waiting. Mothers had their children with them, and they’re kids so they were bored and restless,” Shelley recounts. “So, I started taking my guitar and playing while we waited. The kids loved it.”

From there, the music moved to the porch of the Blades’ home. In the evenings, Shelley and Jesse would sit and sing and children would stop by and join in. Some played. Some curiously listened from afar, but over time, more and more came.

That’s how the Stone Soup Library was born.

The name of the library is inspired by the book “Stone Soup,” which is about a community pulling individual resources together to make something that can be shared by all.

How it works

The books are donated—books for children, teenaged and under—with no violence. They can be read there at the table on the porch or taken away. “These books are here for the children to have,” Shelley says.

It has grown a life of its own with word of mouth spreading to surrounding blocks.

“Guerrilla libraries,” Shelly calls it and says it can happen anywhere. “We’d love to see front porch libraries pop up all throughout South Allison Hill, throughout the city.”

The books are continually donated to maintain the stock.

At one point, children started showing up and asking for help with homework. Everyday after school, the kids can bring their homework and are welcome in the house to work on it with Shelley and Jesse.

The Blades want to show the children that “everything you need is there within your reach,” as long as they are  willing to ask and go for it.

“This is a place filled with so much potential for hope”

It’s not about fixing the neighborhood. It’s about pulling resources together to make it a better place. The couple focuses on the physical condition of the neighborhood. They are determined to not let the neighborhood deteriorate any further. They have brought a revived energy and intention for the betterment of the community.

Shelly has noticed a change not just in the children but also in many of the adults who live on her block. “Even if the parents don’t like each other, they will come together around the children.” This project is bringing the community together.

Neighbors know one another’s names. Families up and down the block have become familiar and even friendly with one another. Children are making new friends and playing together. The street is clean and the block has become a fun, comfortable place to live.

All members of the community are encouraged to bring whatever skills they possess to help others. “If everyone brings a little something to the table, we will be able to make a big difference,” she says.

Just like the music lead to the library, which turned into homework assistance, more has evolved. Jesse hosts a repair shop for the teenagers in the neighborhood. Teens bring toys, bikes and other things that need repaired, and Jesse fixes them as well as teaches the youth to do repairs themselves. In return, the couple encourages the teens to clean up around the neighborhood and help those children who are younger and in need.

The main point they want to drive home is community service. They want to show that bringing a community together only takes a few determined citizens.

The proof of this is found on Catherine Street.