PEMBROKE, N.C. — At the University of North Carolina, Pembroke, the Department of English, Theatre, and Foreign Languages and the student honor society Sigma Tau Delta have partnered with the Office of Community & Civic Engagement (CCE) to sponsor a little free library at Purnell Swett High School.

A little free library resembles an oversized mailbox, filled with free books for individuals to take. Sponsorship of a library costs $350, and UNCP students, during CCE’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Week of Service, will build and paint libraries to be placed across Robeson County.

“Together, we can increase literacy within Robeson County,” said Natural Love, CCE assistant director.

English faculty Nikki Agee, Teagan Decker, Laura Hakala, Scott Hicks, and a professor who wished to remain anonymous joined Sigma Tau Delta chapter adviser Abigail Mann and members Angel Baker, Veronica Gomez, Tonia Hunt-Thompson, and Morgan Butler-Feltz (now alumni) to fund the $350 sponsorship required for the library.

The library brings to fruition a longstanding goal of Sigma Tau Delta.

“Sigma Tau Delta has been trying to establish a little free library at Purnell Swett for the last two years,” Mann said. “Our student members want to make a graduation tradition of donating a book that was meaningful to them in high school with a book plate that explained why.”

In addition to ETFL, Sigma Tau Delta, and CCE, UNCP’s Office of New Student Programs, Center for Engaged Leadership, and Department of Athletics will sponsor little free libraries.

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