Little Free Thoughts Library helps students share and connect on campus

The Little Free Thoughts Library is an anonymous resource for Geneseo students to share thoughts, feelings, and ideas with others. Created by Ashlee Kuzemchak, the library aims to provide a sense of community and a place for students to share feelings without fear of judgment. 

Kuzemchak, a junior psychology major, was inspired by small libraries where patrons can take a book for free, as long as they leave a book of their own. 

“It's a free resource mainly for nonverbal and anonymous thought expression. And these thoughts can be journaling your everyday activities, it can be creating sketches, or writing music lyrics. It's kind of modeled after the little free libraries around communities where you take a book and leave a book,” she said. “We provide blank sketchbooks, lined notebooks, pens, pencils, and crayons for students to take and spend some time with the materials for a couple days, and then bring back the books and supplies so they can read other students’ entries.” 

According to Kuzemchak, the supplies are located in the GOLD Room in the MacVittie College Union, room 114. There, students can read other students’ entries and create their own.  

“It's open for anyone to come in because the GOLD Room is open Monday through Thursday, 12-5 p.m. So, students can just drop by, and they don't have to say anything. They just go to the bookcase that's on the wall, and they can find all the information they need there,” she said. 

Students are free to write or draw anything they want, as long as it is respectful to other students. 

Kuzemchak said, “We do things like scan the books every day, obviously for inappropriate information. There are no rules about what you can and can’t write, just as long as you're respectful. We also keep inventory of what’s on the bookcase and if anything is missing.” 

According to Kuzemchak, the idea for the library stemmed from her own experiences with journaling following the passing of her grandfather. 

She said, “A couple years ago, my grandfather passed away. He was my best friend, no one else compared. So, it was a really tough time in my life, and my parents and therapists all suggested journaling. When I was doing that, I personally did not find any advantage to journaling, so I thought ‘How could I change this?’ Because journaling was just putting my thoughts down on paper and no one else is reading it or acknowledging it. This project was just a way, for me personally, to journal and then have other people be aware of these thoughts. I don't intend to get any judgment or response back, I just want people to know that these thoughts exist, and that other students aren't alone in what they're feeling. And I thought it was very important for me to make this kind of resource available to all students because of how it helped me.” 

Kuzemchak plans on expanding the project after this semester, as well as continuing the library once she has graduated. 

“My goal is for it to continue on after I leave, because I am graduating this December. So I'd like my team to take over and get more people involved, and move it to a more centrally located area or even get another bookcase to put somewhere else on campus, things like that,” she said. “Currently, we are in the process of planning an event in partnership with GOLD. It's going to be a picnic event out on the College Green, later in April. I feel like that would be great. I feel like there would be so much foot traffic there [than in the GOLD Room]. But we have also done tabling in the Union and we're planning to do more of that, and we're currently applying for a Geneseo Knight Life grant to have a big event in the fall. So that's all very exciting.” 

Kuzemchak is happy with the student response to the library, and hopes that the project will continue to make students feel like part of a welcoming community.

“The students seem very surprised about the idea, and they seem to like it. We’ve gotten feedback about how it's very inquisitive, and everyone's had positive things to say. So, it's just about you know, getting the word out there now,” she said.