City Lake Park in Russellville has a new addition, as Junior League of the Shoals has added a “little library” to encourage literacy.

Little libraries are “take a book, leave a book” free book exchanges. The little library in City Lake Park has books for a range of ages and even includes several books in Spanish to cater to the diverse population.

“Literacy is a major focus of JLS,” said JLS President Tiff Butler. “Along with our Read Across the Shoals efforts, this year our community project will be little libraries. Our members actually built these little libraries; it is truly a labor of love. This community project is one that will reach all of the counties we serve, including Franklin.”

JLS is installing a little library in each of the counties served – Franklin, Colbert and Lauderdale – with each being in a central location.

Butler said JLS decided on City Lake Park because it was a central area of the county with a variety of visitors.

Russellville Parks and Recreation Director Donnie Flanigan agreed City Lake Park is a great spot for the Franklin County little library.

“It’s a great location, so I think this will have a lot of success here,” Flanigan said.

The library is stocked with books for all age ranges, and Butler said it will be restocked regularly to ensure books are always available.

Butler said the little library was built by members of JLS, and the little library in City Lake Park even has a Watermelon on the side to represent Franklin County.

“We love that we serve such a diverse area with such a diverse group of people,” Butler said. “We tried to include something in there for everyone. We are very excited about it, and we hope it is very loved.”