FL 7-Year-Old Writes $5 Poems To Fund Little Free Library In Yard
PINELLAS PARK, FL — LJ Bruno has loved books for as long as he can remember.
The 7-year-old is especially drawn to fiction titles — his favorite is “The Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series — and as he goes into the third grade in this coming school year, he’s already reading at nearly a fifth-grade level.
“They (books) help you use your imagination,” he told Patch. “I just like reading because you can get smarter and it helps your imagination grow.”
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Now, LJ wants to share his passion for reading with others. He’s bought and organized a Little Free Library, which he’ll debut at his Pinellas Park home Saturday, noon to 3 p.m.
He and his 5-year-old brother, Phoenix, will be running a lemonade stand to raise money for the library during this time.
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Their home is located on 60th Street N., not far from Skyview Elementary School. Anyone interested in the exact address should contact his mother, Lorenza Bruno, at lorenzadbruno@gmail.com.
LJ frequently visits other Little Free Libraries throughout the community, including the one at Helen Howarth Park, with his brother and mother, a former teacher. They not only take books home with them, but they drive around with stacks of books in their car to refill any empty libraries they find.
About a month ago, he decided he wanted to have a Little Free Library of his own. He and his family were surprised to learn that to buy one from and register it with the organization cost hundreds of dollars.
Looking for a way to raise money, he began writing personalized poems for people, mostly Lorenza’s friends, family and acquaintances.
“My idea was I couldn’t just get random money from nowhere and make a library, so I decided to write poems for $5,” he said.
LJ wrote his first poem, inspired by his mother, in the first grade, and has been writing ever since.
“I like writing about anything that pops into my mind,” he said. “My first poem was about Sonic (the Hedgehog).”
When writing the poems for donations, his mother would tell him a bit about each person who ordered one and his imagination would get to work. For those they didn’t know well, he’d write an acrostic poem for the person, using each letter of their name as the first letter of a word or phrase.
Thanks to a generous donation from a neighbor, LJ was able to raise well over $300, which he used to purchase an unassembled and unfinished library.
Working together, the three of them put the library together. They built the library and then hand painted it in bright colors with a triple rainbow.
“We want people to know that it’s a good library,” LJ said. “So, it’s eye-catching because of the colors. We want people to come enjoy the books.”
Lorenza added, “And mommy’s never used a drill, so, we figured it out together.”
LJ even got to use a drill for the first time and Phoenix jumped in to help with a screwdriver.
“It was fun,” the 7-year-old said. “When I first did it, I was covering my ears, because I don’t like the noise of the drill, but it wasn’t that big of a drill.”
He hopes many people will stop by to take and leave books at his Little Free Library now that it’s installed.
“I just want people to come get books,” LJ said.
Even before it was installed, he’s already been the first visitor to his own library, borrowing a book about science facts from a bag of donations.
“And when I’m done reading it, I’ll put it in the library,” he said.
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