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By JOYANNA LOVE/ Managing Editor

Those looking for something new to read or a place to take books they no longer want have a new option in Clanton through three Little Free Libraries.

Three wooden boxes on stands have been set up — one at Clanton City Park near the ballfields and tennis courts, one in the West End community and one by Clanton City Hall (behind it across from the Clanton Fire Station near the Chilton County Extension Office garden).

Each has already been stocked with donated books for both children and adults.

“I had seen them in other communities and thought they were cool,” Kim Trimble said. “I knew we didn’t have any, so I decided to see if anyone had any interest.”

Stanley Varner saw a post about the project on Clanton Now, and contacted Trimble about building the stands for the books.

“I like doing woodwork, so it was right up my alley,” Varner said.

The city of Clanton paid for getting the sites chartered through the Little Free Library organization.

“You can go to littlefreelibrary.org and look at their map, and they are all over the world,” Trimble said. “The whole purpose is give a book, take a book … to promote reading and literacy.”

Each location has a steward that makes sure the stand stays full of books and in good shape.

Future plans are to attach a guestbook to each of the stands, so each person using the Little Free Library can put their name and where they are from, if they choose to.

“People that are traveling through, a lot of times they will look, because they can’t go back to the library and return a book, so they will look for the little free libraries,” Trimble said.

She said travelers will often leave a book that they got in another city.

Kelton Mims and his parents are the stewards for the one in City Park.

Mims is in kindergarten and starting to read on his own.

The family thought it would be a good way to help the community and children to enjoy reading.