Randie's Free Library

Located on Kirkwood Avenue in Des Moines, Iowa, Randie's Free Library honors the life of Randie Danielle Camp, who devoted most of her adult years to teaching the importance of literacy and the sometimes healing powers of Bibliotherapy.

APPRECIATING GRACIOUS NEIGHBORS: Randie's Free Library...During this coronavirus pandemic many public libraries are shutdown or only offering limited services. Please consider donating your used books to a neighborhood free library or book exchange. Books have this amazing ability to light up someone's life. Randie's Free Library would like to thank our Kirkwood Avenue neighbors, Mark and Jen, for their gracious donation of over fifty books recently. And again, a big thank you to Sherry Grant, the St. Vincent dePaul Society (Kristen, Chad, and Jennifer), the Forest Branch of the Des Moines Public Library, and so many other kind neighbors who have contributed to the growing collection of books at Randie's Free Library, and for keeping Randie Danielle Camp's dream alive by spreading the joy of reading to everyone. Read, read, read. Thank you, Randolph Randy Camp The following text is written in Randie’s own words……I’m not sure this accurately depicts my relationship with reading. Obsessed and addicted come to mind but I could do without the negative connotations. Bookworm? According to Merriam-Webster.com, a bookworm is “a person unusually devoted to reading and study”. Hmmm, getting warmer but I collect books too. Bookworm + collecting books = bibliophile. That’s better but there is still huge piece of my relationship with reading being left out. I love the smell of books, the confirmation email noting an ebook purchase, the way books gather on shelves, the moment the author hooks me into either loving or hating a character, browsing the library, talking about books, reading books aloud, sharing my love of reading with others (especially children or adult non-readers), when one more page turns into three more chapters, helping others understand the value of early literacy, turning to a book for the support and love that the world cannot offer, finding friends in a character, using books to educate myself on an unknown, holding presentations to teach others how to use books as a supportive tool for coping with everything and anything. I just love reading, everything about reading. As it happened, my childhood was very rocky. Books were my constant. My love of reading made it possible for me to develop the skills I needed to cope with life and pursue something better. Now, I seek to empower others. – Randie Danielle Camp (as stated from ‘Randie’s Book Reviews’)