LIBERTY – What do 70 campers and 9 adults do on a hot summer’s day? They light the way.  Recently, Dr. Hope Blecher Croney visited the summer day camp at Hanofee Park in Liberty. She brought over 70 empty water jugs, assorted colors of paints, a large bag of play sand, smaller baggies, and assorted sizes of canvases and cardboard rectangles. What were they up to? 

Hope, along with Felix Colon, and designated counselors and junior counselors, spent over two hours with two large groups of campers. After speaking with the youth about what it means to make a difference and to be a light, they eagerly got busy painting the jugs that will become part of the luminaries set out along the Parksville Rail Trail during December 2025. These 70+ painted jugs are a welcome addition to the 70+ that the kids made in 2024. One camper remarked about helping to lay out those luminaries along with her grandpa last December. Thank you to Town of Liberty resident and community volunteer Martin Colavito for bringing his grandchildren to assist and making a memorable difference. 

The Creation Booth is coming to Main Street in Liberty and the children helped get it ready. Some children chose to paint personal-sized canvases or cardboard rectangles. These will be included as contents in the Little Free Library, LFL, and Creation Booth that is coming to the Liberty Museum and Arts Center. Outside of this cultural building, the red structure that resembles a telephone booth one might see along the streets of London, England, will be installed. This LFL/Booth will be a lending library/gallery. People can open the door to look at the contents, and then they may choose to take a book or a piece of artwork. Some people may choose to leave a book or a piece of their handmade artwork for someone else. It is a community exchange station. 

A few miles down the road sits the campus of Sullivan County Community College. With the collaboration of Jaime Schmeiser, director of the Workforce Development Program, Jamie Dymond-Brooks, coordinator of Student Activities, and Dr. Hope Blecher Croney, founder of Hope’s Compass nonprofit, a Little Free Library is now thriving. This book and small arts exchange box was installed with the assistance of SCCC’s building and grounds personnel. With funding available from grants and donors, Hope brought a box of books; the titles were submitted by students to Jaime Brooks. After placing the books inside the sky blue colored LFL, participants went to the Student Union to paint rocks. These colorful items became part of the décor.  

As with the Little Free Library/Creation Booth, this structure is open to the community. As Jamie shared, it is already being used by people from 2 to 22+ years of age. Naomi Frumess, vice-president of the board of the Liberty Museum and Arts Center, has also embraced this project as a way to beautify Main Street. 

These community engagement projects are hands-on ways to bring arts and literature into the hands of people of all ages. Over time, the people in the neighborhood become the stewards, the care providers of these structures. That is the goal of the Little Free Library organization, and of this local participation in an international program. Hope is the founder of Hope’s Compass, a nonprofit through The Community Foundation of Orange, Sullivan, and Rockland Counties. With this gift to the community, Dr. Blecher Croney hopes to bring people together, to exchange smiles, and build camaraderie. 

What is next? You are invited to add a book, borrow a book, add a personal-sized craft or artwork, and take one, too. Both structures are exchange stations for the community. As seen in these photos, we are off to a good start. To keep up with other projects coming to our area, go to www.DrHopesHub.org. Hope thanks the community for participating in these projects.