A small wooden box tucked inside Don and Sandy Billish Park on Padre Island is packed with books — free to anyone who wants one.
For Marilyn Litt, who built and installed the box herself, that access fills a gap she sees every day on the island.
"We don't have a library here on the island. Our closest library would be in Flour Bluff. So it's really important, especially with so many kids out here, that we have libraries where they can come and find something," Litt said.
Litt is part of the Little Free Library program, which has several locations on the island. Neighbors across Padre Island have followed suit, placing little free libraries in other public locations — 17 in all.
"It's kind of great to not always depend on someone else to do something for you. This is a real sort of community participation project. It's something neighbors can do to help neighbors," Litt said.
The nonprofit Women's Leadership Junior League of Corpus Christi has also been part of that effort, placing libraries across the city for years. For Literacy Chair Dr. Taylor Feldman-Kinney, summer makes the need even more urgent.
"During that summer slump, you definitely see kids be less active in general. So it's wonderful to have some of these at the parks — grab and go when you're at the park, take them home, read them, bring them back," Feldman-Kinney said.
On an island with no public library branch, that access matters.
Litt checks on the Billish Park library every other day, restocking shelves and watching the titles turn over. Each spot tells its own story.
"If a child finds a book they love, they're more than welcome to keep that book. You don't have to return the same book you took. I like to think it will lead them to a lifetime of reading," Litt said.
Residents who want to get involved don't need to build their own little free library — they can simply stop by one of the 17 locations across the island and pick up a book.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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