Sally Kartt opened a Little Free Library at her home in Kingsford as a way to encourage literacy. She also incorporated Bear, which is posed in a different theme daily. This day, Karttunen sets up Bear reading The Daily News. (Iron Mountain Daily News photo)

KINGSFORD — In today’s technology-centered world, sitting down to read an actual book can easily be pushed aside. But a local retired day care owner hopes her Blessed By Books project can help change that.

Sally Karttunen opened a Little Free Library in May in front of her home at 900 Bluff St. in Kingsford. The concept of the free curbside book library is “take a book, share a book,” with easy access seven days a week.

The non-profit Little Free Library program was started in 2009 by Todd Bol in Hudson, Wis., as a tribute to his late mother, who was a book lover and schoolteacher. The book-filled box on his front lawn became a hit with neighbors. Since that time, they have reached 150,000-plus libraries in 120 different countries and still growing daily worldwide. Its mission is to build community, inspire readers and expand book access through the volunteer-led book exchange boxes.

Karttunen first learned about the program last fall while on vacation with her husband, Doug. “We were on a dead-end street and as we were turning around, I noticed a box and had to find out more information,” Karttunen said. “That did it — it bit me. I came home and been brainstorming ever since.”

By the spring, she hired a contractor to build her a library box.

Her library is always fully stocked with a variety of books, from toddler through adult. “I try to keep something that will appeal to everyone, including sports and outdoors material for the men,” she said. “I have several self-help books for senior citizens as well.”

Visitors are welcome at any time to come, take a book and leave one for the next reader. However, Karttunen said the books do not have to be returned — if they wish, they are welcome to keep it.

Every Sunday, she rotates the supply so there are always different selections.

“I also monitor the box daily to see what has come in and make sure the box is full,” Karttunen said.

Last month, Karttunen started a fun addition she titled, “Blind Date with a Book.” After a special request for an author, she had the idea to wrap that book up so the author and title was hidden, but add several clues on the package for the reader to guess.

After the “secret book” is taken, she reveals the title on the Blessed By Books Facebook page.

“It’s such a great program; it’s all about encouraging literacy,” she said.

She has received an abundance of donations since the library opened. When her supply runs low on selections, she will post a notification on her Facebook page.

In addition to reading material, she includes puzzles and board games in the library.

Young readers can also find pencils, erasers, bookmarks and suckers.

“When I look out the window and see kids sitting on the bench reading a book, it just melts my heart,” she said.

Karttunen’s initial plan was to just focus on books but something happened. After stumbling across a stuffed teddy bear at a local thrift store, she came up with the idea to pose him in the yard to get the kids’ attention before the library box was complete.

“I began setting him up and putting him someplace different every day,” she said. “After a few days, my neighbors started telling me every morning they looked to see where the Bear was hiding and what he was doing — it became a thing.”

Since that time, Bear has been used in about 100 different themed displays. The soft brown mascot has done everything from laundry to lion taming, as well as hosted a Fourth of July parade, lemonade stand and picnics.

One of the popular Bear scenes was a pirate ship kids could sit in to pretend they were on the craft. “It even had a treasure chest and crocodile,” Karttunen said.

Bear’s activities are posted daily on the Facebook page as well. “I had 200 followers this morning,” she noted. “Bear was used to draw the kids in, but has become a popular attraction.”

Karttunen recently acquired an 8-foot white stuffed bear. His first appearance drew 40 guests that enjoyed taking photos with him.

“It was so much fun to see everyone with him,” Karttunen said.

Due to his size and weight, she has only had him out a handful of times.

Karttunen said she will keep the Bear displays going through Halloween, as she has several fall ideas she wants to incorporate.

While the library will remain open during the winter months, Bear will go into hibernation. Even now, weather can be a challenge and some setups had to be created with different types of rain protection.

“I will need to keep the doors shut to protect the books from the weather, but will still be available,” she said.

The book box will continue into next year, but Karttunen is unsure if Bear will reappear in the spring with new antics.

“So far, the ideas keep pouring in,” she said, “but sooner or later the thoughts will dry up.”

If visiting with Bear wasn’t enough fun, she has several activities for kids to enjoy while picking out a book. They can play hopscotch and tic-tac-toe, or Hula Hoop and blow bubbles. She recently added a musical foot piano.

“I love seeing the kids having a good time interacting with the games,” she said. “I have many neighborhood kids that just stop to play.”

Another addition to the corner lot is Rocky Rattler, a snake made with 200 and counting painted rocks that wraps around the wooden fence. Kids are welcome to paint their own rocks.

Several mystery frogs also started to appear in the library box to go with a larger amphibian.

“It’s fun,” she said. “Nowadays we need something to put joy in our lives.”

The neighborhood furry friends couldn’t be left out. The four-legged guests are welcome to dig into the “Doggy Library” filled with sticks, stuffed animals, tennis balls and even a bowl of chow.

“The Doggy Library was actually open about two weeks before the library box went up,” she said. “People had begun walking in the spring, so I thought it would be great addition.”

As far as the name, Blessed By Books, she explained it just came to her one night and felt it was the perfect title.

The Little Free Library is open to more than the neighborhood, as she has had visitors from as far as South Dakota.

All registered volunteer stewards with the program can be found on the map on the littlefreelibrary.org website.

“No matter where you are, you can get directions to the nearest library,” Karttunen said, adding she herself has visited several libraries, including in Marquette, Escanaba and Green Bay, Wis.

She had a recent visitor tell her that he was at book boxes all over and hers was his favorite one.

Karttunen says she has the perfect location for the project, as her corner lot gets a lot of traffic. All guests are also encouraged to sign her log book at each visit.

Since the library has opened, Karttunen said she has interacted more with her neighbors as well.

“I love visiting with the kids and the fact they are having fun, but my main intention is for them to have easy access to books and encourage them to read,” she said. “That’s what it’s all about.”