NPS - National Park Service

04/09/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/09/2024 12:05

Little Free Library Opens to Public at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

News Release Date:
April 9, 2024

Contact: Clare Connelly, 516-802-5586

A Little Free Library is now open to the public at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, offering free books to park visitors, as well as the local community, on a variety of subjects. The Little Free Library is located adjacent to the parking lot near the New Barn and visitors are encouraged to take or leave a book as they wish.

"We're very excited to invite visitors and the community to utilize this new library, for the benefit and enjoyment of all," said Superintendent Jonathan Parker. "President Roosevelt was a voracious reader throughout his life and Sagamore Hill is a fitting place to provide the public with access to complimentary books that facilitate learning, inspiration, and greater understanding of our shared world."

The Roosevelts were avid readers throughout their lives and President Theodore Roosevelt encouraged reading a wide variety of books for enjoyment and life-long learning.

"Nothing, it seems to me, can do more good in a community than a free library which offers to each man and to each woman the opportunity to help himself or herself to the wisdom that he or she has the ability or the desire to acquire" -Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Robert H. Worthington, Library of Congress


The library opened on Friday, April 5th with representatives from the National Park Service, the Friends of Sagamore Hill, and the Oyster Bay East Norwich Public Library in attendance. Funding for the Little Free Library is generously provided by the Friends of Sagamore Hill, an official park partner dedicated to preserving and protecting Theodore Roosevelt's home.

The opening of the Little Free Library coincides with National Library Week and creates a new opportunity for visitors to be inspired by - and remember - a visit to Sagamore Hill. It also advances the National Park Service's ongoing mission of promoting learning and education for visitors to the country's 429 national park units. Additional local Little Free Libraries in Oyster Bay can be found at Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park, McCouns Lane, and Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School.

The Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "building community, inspiring readers, and expanding book access for all through a global network of volunteer-led Little Free Library book-exchange boxes."