4-minute read

Two Little Free Libraries were recently installed at the downtown Lakeland and Winter Haven bus terminals. The libraries are the newest piece of Art in Transit, an ongoing partnership between the Polk Arts & Cultural Alliance (PACA) and Citrus Connection that brings arts and cultural programming into the county’s bus system.

This project layers a practical resource on top of that, according to Jordan Weiland, PACA arts program and marketing coordinator. “Hopefully we get books into the hands of kids, and it becomes a good resource for parents and guardians in Polk County,” Weiland said.

Little Free Libraries follow a simple take-a-book, leave-a-book model, with no membership or checkout process.

For a family without a car, getting to a public library branch means planning an outing of its own, a transfer, a wait, a trip back, just to browse the shelves. The new libraries sit in places that families already pass through.

A previous Art in Transit poetry installation “went over really, really well,” Weiland said, and the response to earlier projects showed bus riders were receptive to both creative programming and practical resources.

“This is a way that we could partner with them and the community to provide resources for their families, for the kids in their life, and also bring that art and cultural aspect,” she said. 

The locations

Weiland described the libraries’ origin as opportunity-driven, not needs-driven. But the bus terminal installations happen to be among the highest-traffic public placements for libraries of this kind in the county.

A Little Free Library was recently installed at the downtown Lakeland bus terminal to put books in the hands of riders. | Anna Toms, LkldNow

More than 5% of Polk County households do not have a vehicle, according to Citrus Connection’s draft 2025 planning study. In certain areas around the Lakeland and Winter Haven terminals, the rate tops 20%. 

About 750,000 trips pass through the Lakeland terminal annually, according to Tom Phillips, Citrus Connection CEO. Winter Haven’s terminal is Citrus Connection’s east transfer hub, connecting eight bus routes and Greyhound service. It sees about 450,000 trips annually, Phillips said.

And the riders traveling through the terminals aren’t just occasional. A customer survey from the same planning study found that nearly half of riders, 47.3%, ride the bus five or more days a week, mostly to commute to work, 33.7%, or run errands, 26.5%. 

A separate public survey put roughly a quarter of respondents’ household income under $45,000 a year. 

Both surveys capture the Citrus Connection system as a whole, instead of breaking it down by terminal. But they describe the same rider base: limited car access, frequent riders, tighter budgets.

The books

United Way of Central Florida’s Success By 6 program supplied books for the libraries.

Literacy is the strongest single predictor of whether a child succeeds in school, said Gretchen Ceranic, Chief Impact Officer with United Way of Central Florida. In Polk County, only 38% of children were considered ready for kindergarten in 2024, below the statewide rate of 44%, according to LkldNow’s prior reporting.

“We often say that kids that start behind, stay behind, because once you hit school in kindergarten, it is really, really hard to catch up,” Ceranic said. “Sometimes books can be a barrier if it’s a financial constraint to have books in the home or if it’s a transportation issue that prevents them from getting to the library. These Little Free Libraries will overcome that obstacle for them.” 

The libraries also carry resources for parents and guardians, including information about The Carol Jenkins Barnett United Way Children’s  Resource Center at Bonnet Springs Park, which Ceranic pointed to as a hub for free parent and caregiver programs. She said another resource is United Way’s ReadingPals program, which is currently recruiting 150 volunteers to mentor kindergartners struggling with reading.

The University of Florida’s IFAS Books & Cooks program, a free literacy and nutrition initiative, also donated 1,000 books to help launch the project.

Weiland said current donations will launch and sustain the library for now. Further restocking depends on how the project is received and if the public takes to the Little Free Library’s take-a-book, leave-a-book model. 

The local artist

Lakeland Terminal Little Free Library | Courtesy of Amber Bullington

Local artist Amber Bullington decorated the libraries. “Public art is something I truly love because it gives me a chance to brighten someone’s day in a simple way,” she said. 

The libraries are Bullington’s first Art in Transit commission. Her designs center on a bus, with details specific to each terminal: Lakeland’s shows a swan going about everyday tasks, a reference to the city’s “Swan City” roots. Winter Haven’s box pairs water skiing, a nod to the city’s identity, with a figure reading. 

“For this project, I knew each design needed to reflect Citrus Connection, so I centered everything around the bus while also tying in elements unique to each location,” Bullington said.

Insight Polk examines community conditions and solutions in six target areas from UCIndicators.org: economic & employment opportunity, education, housing, food security, transportation & infrastructure, and quality of life.

LkldNow’s Insight Polk independent reporting is made possible by the United Community Indicators Project with funding by GiveWell Community Foundation & United Way of Central Florida. All editorial decisions are made by LkldNow.

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