DOWNSVILLE - The request had been circulating in the community for years: Someone wanted to build a little free library where residents could leave books for others to take and enjoy.
For David Valero, the answer came quickly.
Valero, who lives full time on Staten Island but has maintained a second home in Shinhopple for decades, learned about the request from his sister, Deborah Weinberg. She saw a Facebook post seeking someone willing to build the library and passed it along.
“I said, ‘Absolutely,’” Valero recalled.
It was a Monday. Valero told his sister the library would be ready by Friday.
“I had the pocket of time, and I had some of the materials. I bought the rest,” he said.
And he did.
Over roughly three nights, Valero built the library himself, spending about two and a half hours each evening on the project. In all, he estimated the work took about eight hours.
The finished structure stands about 4½ feet tall and is roughly 16 inches deep and 24 inches wide. It rests on four legs so it can be moved, an arrangement Valero believes will make it easier to protect from winter weather.
The library has a wood-framed plexiglass door and a small roof, and Valero used pressure-treated lumber designed to withstand the elements.
The project was not his first community build.
Valero, who works in home improvement on Staten Island, previously built a small neighborhood food pantry for a customer. That structure has been in use for about six years.
So when he was asked to build the library, he already had a good idea of what would work.
“I just based it roughly on that,” he said.
Giving back
For Valero, the project was less about woodworking than about giving something back to a community that has been part of his life for generations.
He and his sister have been coming to the area since 1968 or 1969. Although his work and full-time life are on Staten Island, he said his connection to the Catskills runs much deeper.
“Downsville has served me my entire life,” Valero said. “It’s my pleasure to give back a little bit.”
He described the decision simply: The library was his contribution to the community.
The response from the person who had originally sought the library made the quick turnaround worthwhile, Valero said. After years of hearing promises that someone would build one, the library went from an idea to a finished structure in a matter of days.
For Valero, that was especially meaningful.
He said the woman who requested the library had told him about a family member facing serious health problems. Bringing some happiness to someone in that situation, he said, made the effort worthwhile.
“To bring a little joy to somebody so sweet - it’s worth its weight in gold,” he said.
The concept is simple: Books that have already been enjoyed by one person can find a new reader rather than sit unused on a shelf.
For Pastor Christine Lindeberg, who pastor’s the church where the library is positioned, the library represents more than a place to pick up a book. In a small community, she said, seemingly modest projects can become another way for neighbors to care for one another.
“We’re a small town, so it’s about how we can help each other with these little things,” Lindeberg said.
The free library offers a simple, immediate way for residents to access books. She noted that the community also has a food pantry at the church, although not everyone knows it is available to the public. “It’s all these little things to help with the community, to be fed, to be cared for, to have opportunities,” she said.
Lindeberg also sees the library as an opportunity for connection in an increasingly digital world. A book taken from the little library can become a conversation between neighbors who might otherwise simply pass one another on the street. “If we’re not doing what we’re doing right now, people walk by and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll grab the book out of there. You’ve got to read this one. I just put it in there,’” she said. “And it’s a little conversation that would have never existed if this [little library] wasn’t here.”
For Lindeberg, books also offer something increasingly valuable: time to slow down and think. “Having access to books, gets us out of the mindset of Facebook,” she said. Reading, she added, can strengthen language and help people become “more discerning adults” as they navigate a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and rapidly changing information.
Ultimately, she said, the library fits into a larger tradition of neighbors helping neighbors that she believes defines Downsville.
“This whole town does that too,” Lindeberg said. “It’s really a neat place to be. Downsville is such a good place.”
Pay it forward
Valero said he hopes the little library becomes more than a place to exchange books. He hopes it serves as an example of how small acts of generosity can strengthen a community.
He did not seek payment for building it.
Instead, he sees the project as part of a larger philosophy about community involvement - one that does not require a person to wait for someone else to take the first step.
“Just in life, pay it forward,” Valero said. “That’s the best way of sharing kindness.”
For a community that had been waiting for a little library, the lesson may be as valuable as the books themselves: Sometimes all it takes is one person willing to answer the call.
