Boxcar Books wishes for green space

Although the plot of land owned by Boxcar Books is small and concrete, local volunteers are working to make the area a certified wildlife habitat.

Boxcar Books sits just two blocks west of campus on Sixth Street.

The nonprofit organization already serves as a community space and a project to provide books to prisoners free of charge.

One of Boxcar’s gardening coordinators, Bretagne Byrd, has been working with the Center for Sustainable Living to make the space around the store more nature-friendly.

But Taylor Dean, Boxcar’s general coordinator, said the nonprofit’s efforts have been thwarted in the past by high winds and rowdy drunk people.

“For the last year or two, we’ve been working towards becoming a wildlife habitat,” Dean said. “We’ve had multiple handmade birdbaths to support the bird population and just green the area overall, but unfortunately those haven’t lasted very long.”

Boxcar Books is currently looking to the community to help move forward with the effort, starting with a community wish list.

While the wish list is still in the planning stage and has not yet been finalized, Byrd said the list will provide an organized and easy way for people to donate to Boxcar’s garden project.

The group plans to meet Wednesday to create a list of plants that would thrive in the Boxcar garden. Other items that Boxcar Books is requesting include a birdbath, birdseed, a toolbox and an electric drill.

Additionally, Boxcar Books will participate in a Day of Service in April with Ivy Tech students to work on outdoor clean-up and planting projects. Dean said Boxcar Books offers many more volunteer opportunities for community members who may not have a green thumb for the outdoor projects.

While volunteering, workers keep the store organized and make sales.

While Boxcar is home to thousands of books ranging in genre from Native American history to graphic novels, the primary purpose of the organization is to provide free books to prisoners upon request.

Dean said Boxcar Books receives anywhere from 10 to 20 request letters per day from prisoners all across the Midwest.

Volunteers then work to write a personal letter in response and provide up to three books that are relevant to the prisoner’s interests.

“Our most important partnership is with Midwest Pages to Prisoners,” Dean said. “We think it is really important to promote self-education and prevent boredom in prisons. We want the incarcerated to know that we think this person is valuable and still a member of our community.”