The Kossuth Street Garden was founded in 2007 in the Southern Orchards neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio, and gives the local community the opportunity to connect and grow.
Located at a lot where a kosher slaughterhouse in a once predominately Jewish neighborhood once stood, the garden now connects, educates and inspires Central Ohio. This year, they’ve planted corn which will be used in creating delicious meals at their upcoming harvest party.
Kossuth’s little library is located at the front of the garden and welcomes all visitors. Installed eight years ago, the library is painted yearly by children, and, beyond promoting literacy, promotes community events.
The garden is host to regular cooking classes, Earth Day celebrations and a yearly upcoming harvest celebration on August 25. Additionally, the garden partners with The Ohio State University and Green Columbus.
I want to get people involved in community…to find their roots ~Michael Doody
Garden founder, Michael Doody, is a community advocate that cites his father as an inspiration. As a volunteer fireman, Michael’s father instilled a sense of civic pride and responsibility in Michael when he was young. Michael helped start Earth Day Columbus in 2007, and he enjoys giving back at Columbus Community Festival (ComFest). We had the pleasure of meeting Michael at ComFest 2018. He immediately struck us as energetic, passionate and approachable.
We encourage you to visit and become involved with the Kossuth Street Garden and little library. It’s an incredible space to be enjoyed by the entire community.
Kossuth Street Garden 641 E Kossuth St., Columbus, Ohio 43206
We’ve mapped chartered Little Free Libraries® (in yellow) and independent little libraries (in purple). Our map is open to edit with a Google account, and we encourage you to explore and enhance it.
We are excited to announce that United Way of Central Ohio has funded another two little free libraries for our Libraries Everywhere program!
This year we are collaborating with the King Arts Complex to honor artist Aminah Robinson. We project to have the little free library in place at King Arts by early autumn, and we’re thrilled to be working with artist and former Robinson mentee, Bryan Christopher Moss, to paint Aminah’s portrait on the library.
Our second UWCO-funded little free library will go into Columbus’ Milo-Grogan neighborhood. We are currently in discussion with resident and Melanincholy Fest Founder Apollo Akembe to bring to life a unique library honoring a special, long-time resident of the area, his grandmother.
For both libraries, we will partner again with Rebuilding Together Central Ohio and Half Price Books. We are also excited for a new collaboration with The Conscious Connect to ensure we continue to provide diverse materials for a diverse audience.
Last July, we featured some amazing little libraries and community leaders who helped create them. Our Street Art Library was born from a partnership with Transit Columbus and Placemakes for their Cherry Street project. We are excited for our Street Art Library to be placed near The Lookout Shop starting this August.
We also started mapping little libraries beyond what is recorded at LittleFreeLibrary.org, and we encourage others to continue to add to our Little Library Google Map.
This year, we had an incredible experience at Columbus, Ohio’s Community Festival (ComFest). We are honored that our Eco Library was chosen to receive funding from ComFest among such important community peers like Camp Lionheart and others.
We had an estimated 500+ conversations with festival participants, and we reached thousands who walked by or viewed our online posts. We were touched by the stories that participants shared with us like how the book Double Fudge transformed a young man’s life and how a being born and raised (BAR) by a black single mother (BAR) inspired another man.
In addition to the grant, the Eco Library was made possible by the generosity and a ton of sweat equity by Half Price Books (Jeff Heydinger), The Lookout Shop (Justin Withrow), Lucida Dynamics (Doug Houdeshell) and Rebuilding Together Central Ohio (their entire amazing staff).
We are thrilled that the Eco Library’s permanent home is now with 934 Gallery. The gallery focuses on bringing a fresh perspective to contemporary art through exciting and thought-provoking exhibitions, installations, performances and public art projects. Come meet Cbus Libraries’ co-founder, Bryan Loar, at this year’s 934 Fest on July 22 as we dedicate the library in honor of Daniel Sebastian Loper.
We are humbled by the overwhelmingly positive response to our little libraries, and we are inspired by the creativity and personal stories of our communities. We hope to see you soon!
The Noor Islamic Cultural Center and its library serves the Muslim and non-Muslim community of greater Columbus by promoting goodwill, tolerance, unity and understanding.
On the day we toured, the center was bustling with activity from the sounds of melodic Friday prayers, the smell of delicious samosas and the chatting of congregants outside the mosque promoting events like the film premiere of The Sultan & The Saint.
The Noor Islamic Cultural Center is composed of a mosque, library, classrooms and meeting rooms. The library fills an important function to house sacred texts, provide a space for study and reflection and accommodate additional congregants during prayer.
Noor is welcoming to all and encourages learning more. Every Saturday at 11 a.m., the center hosts a gathering open to the public to meet Muslims and learn about Islam. The center also has a strong partnership with all faiths and was one of first to have suburban interfaith programming.
Over 6,000 across the country are reached by Noor, while 70% of the congregation live within walking distance. Its programming is considered among the best in the country, and community service plays a strong part in making a difference, building relationships and creating friendships. From ladies cooking classes, book clubs and National Muslim Soup Kitchen Day, to so much more, Noor is a devoted community partner. The center collaborates with hospitals, high schools, colleges, YMCA and other organizations to nurture community relations and understanding.
The Noor Islamic Cultural Center is an incredible space and a wonderful part of the Central Ohio community. We highly recommend visiting and learning more.
Special thanks to Noor’s Board of Directors President Imran Malik as well as Noorgul Dada for their warm welcome and personal tour.