Townsends Inlet Free Mini-Libraries Offer Array of Beach Reads

By KELLY MCCARTHY Every time Tim Kelly walks by the miniature library at the entrance to 93rd Street beach in Townsends Inlet, he’s fondly reminded of the special person that it is dedicated to, his beloved mother, Catherine “Kitty” Kelly. “She was just a wonderful lady,” says Kelly. “I thought this was a nice way to honor her legacy. Her name was Kitty Kelly. And there’s a little sign under the library that says the Kitty Kelly Memorial Library.” It all began in 2015, when Kelly’s daughter, Caitlin Glaws, suggested to her father that he construct a mini-library as a special remembrance of his mother, who’d just passed away a few years earlier. “I had only vaguely heard about mini-libraries before,” says Kelly. “And I thought, yeah, I can knock something together over the winter as sort of a crafty project. I got small pieces of wood and hammered them together and put this thing up.” And thus, the Townsends Inlet Free Library was born. All of the books are donated, and a small group of volunteers, TI neighbors, help to nurture and protect the integrity of the project. Today, Kelly is enthused by the positive responses from not only the TI neighbors but visitors alike, who utilize the library on a consistent basis. “I can actually see it from the window of my house,” says Kelly, who plans to move full time to 93rd Street with his wife, Karen, this fall. “I’m a schoolteacher. So, it’s very gratifying that it promotes literacy. But, also, I think it suggests a sense of community for local folks in both Townsends Inlet and Sea Isle in general. So that was the genesis of the library project.” Tim Kelly's parents Frank and Kitty Kelly in an undated photo. The libraries are in honor of Kitty. (Photo courtesy of Tim Kelly) Kelly has gone on to erect additional mini-libraries in TI after someone donated some old real estate boxes. “Realtors weren’t using the paper magazines anymore that promoted houses or apartments. So, I painted several of those and started placing them on alternating blocks, starting at 93rd Street,” he explains. Kelly has implemented additional TI Mini-Libraries on 91st Street, 89th, 87th and 84th Streets. There is also a mini-library at the entrance to the beach at the TI Waterfront Park. The miniature libraries on 93rd and 87th were handmade in his garage. The TI libraries on 91st, 89th, and 84th and the one at the Waterfront, he refurbished from those donated real estate boxes. While Kelly is a teacher, he also comes from a marketing background. He believes in uniformity and consistency. So, he chose the look for the miniature libraries to be painted the same color, a light green with a yellow roof. And though the libraries might have an eye-catching look, it’s the variety of available titles that is part of the attraction that keeps readers coming back for more. “There’s everything from technical manuals to historic fiction to a novel you might see at any public library,” says Kelly. “It’s an extremely eclectic mix of books that I think reflects the people that live here, and the people that visit here. Rarely have I run into a situation where a book just sits there forever, and no one takes it. The circulation is just phenomenal.” This mini-library is at 91st Street. Kelly says that the Townsend Inlet neighbors, and Sea Isle City has been supportive since the very beginning of the legacy project for his mother, which in broader terms, is to promote that sense of community spirit. And this is not the first time someone from his family has been honored. Kelly says that his parents, Kitty and Frank Kelly lived year-round on 93rd Street back when most of their neighbors were mostly summer residents. According to Kelly, his parents were also heavily involved in the South End Association and had been instrumental in the development of the TI Park. Subsequently, in March of 2005, Kelly says that Sea Isle proclaimed 93rd Street “Kelly Drive” for his parents. Now, the Kitty Kelly Memorial Library is yet another remembrance. “Mom was a secretary, but she read a lot,” says Kelly, who is passing on his admiration for books to the next generation. This summer when his grandchildren were visiting, he’d grab books for them out of the Kitty Kelly Mini Library, and they'd read them, and put them back, or they would bring books with them to add to the library. “A lot of people do that, “says Kelly. “They bring books from home, knowing that they’re not going to read them again, and they pass them on to someone else.” So, the next time you’re in TI, and you’re headed to the beach, or you’re out on a bike ride, and you pass by one of the mini-libraries and you want to pick up a good read, or perhaps you want to donate a book by your favorite author, know that it touches a very special place in the heart of Tim Kelly. “Every time I see someone use the library, I get kind of a warm feeling and I know my mom would appreciate the fact that the people are using the library and reading,” he says. An closeup view of a mini-library at 87th Street.