Lake Helen resident Joy Taylor has made it her mission over the past six years to provide and advocate literature to her community. Taylor has sponsored the “Little Free Library” in Lake Helen since 2018 to pay homage to her childhood when she got the little library as a childhood gift from her parents.

A little free library is a box in which you can freely exchange and drop off books that you think others would want to read. Taylor initially thought no one would use it or be interested, but she was wrong.

Taylor made a social media page advertising the little library to the citizens of Lake Helen, and within hours people were dropping books off and exchanging them. The box resided outside her home, with Taylor noting she always had people over exploring the box.

“I had no idea how big it would get — people were mistaking us with the actual library,” Taylor laughed.

Over the next few years, Taylor grew this into much more than a small community box.

Every year around Halloween, Taylor hosted a storytelling event for parents and children. These events drew large numbers and solidified Taylor as a reading superhero.

When asked how many books she’s given away to her community, Taylor told The Beacon: “I have no idea, but it’s easily in the thousands.”

Recently, the little free library suffered some structural damage due to wear and tear.

Taylor notes that because life has gotten busier over the years for herself, the library is currently on hiatus. Taylor plans to give the little free library a new life in different care soon. But whatever happens, Taylor said, the little free library will live on.