Unofficial and official Little Free Libraries offer access to books for everyone. (Provided photo — Diane Chase)

My mother was an elementary school teacher, and it wasn’t until I had children that I realized how many “Mom sayings” I’ve parroted were not my mother’s original statements.

She still has some pearls of wisdom to share, but her most constant phrase is, “reading is fundamental.” Yes, it is. It’s also a not-for-profit organization that has distributed free books to children since the mid-60s. Reading is Fundamental’s (RIF) mission continues to “provide book access, choice, and engagement to provide a culture of literacy for children.”

Without bashing technology, as I write on my computer and check facts from my phone, the physical handling of a book still calms my family’s minds. It allows us to disconnect, dream and connect in different ways.

Thankfully, in our community, there are ways for everyone to access free books. Besides the obvious choice of going to a neighborhood public library, there are plenty of mini-libraries around the Adirondacks. In 2009, the concept of a free book-sharing box was conceived by Todd Bol and Rick Brooks of Wisconsin. Now a nonprofit, over 100,000 Little Free Libraries can be found around the world.

Locally, free books are available at the following little libraries: Hex and Hop Book Box in Bloomingdale; Loon Lake Lending Library, Route 26 in Loon Lake; 349 Hosley Ave., Tupper Lake; Owl’s Roost, 63 Haymeadow Road, Tupper Lake; Little Super Market, 5794 state Route 86 Wilmington; 1798 state Route 73 in Keene Valley; and AuSable Dental Center, 30 North Main St., AuSable Forks. Drapers Acres, across from the entrance to Mt. Van Hoevenberg, and the Wilmington Thrift Store both have free “grab and go” book boxes. Lake Placid has five official Little Library locations: St. Eustace Library at Peacock’s Park (Mirror Lake Beach), St. Eustace Episcopal Church, Main Street, Cascade Acres, Wesvalley Road, the Lake Placid Elementary School and St. Agnes Food Pantry. Go to littlefreelibrary.org for additional locations.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library provides monthly free books for children from birth to age 5. Launched in 1995 in Parton’s home state of Tennessee, the program now includes all of the U.S., Canada, Australia and Ireland–Imagination Library partners with local literary programs to distribute the books. Locally, the Literacy Volunteers of Clinton, Essex and Franklin serve our local community. People need to register their children at imaginationlibrary.com to receive free books. A few locations are yet to be administered by Imagination Library, but the company is continually working on expanding access.

As much as my mother may not be the inventor of catchy phrases, she did instill her love of reading in her children, which we passed on to our children. Having access to books is the first step. Please take advantage of these free resources and escape into the pages of a good book. Enjoy!