By Eliza PARTIKA

Public services were left devastated along with entire neighborhoods in Altadena following the Eaton Fire. One group of locals is giving back in a big way to ensure an essential service – libraries – continue to rebuild in Altadena. 

Retired fifth grade teacher Jennifer Paterson, a resident of Simi Valley, heard about the devastation in Altadena from the news and from her mom and husband, both who work at Bob Smith Toyota in La Crescenta. Paterson had an entire classroom library sitting in her garage in tote bags and boxes. She created her first Little Free Library, Books in Bloom, in May 2024. In January 2025, she repurposed the free library to give back to the Altadena community.  

“After seeing the utter devastation on the news and seeing that schools were lost, my thoughts immediately went to the teachers and students. Being a former teacher, I know how much personal time, dedication and financial resources go into developing a classroom library that provides comfort and escape for their students. Books are healing and are essential in this time of uncertainty,” Paterson told the CV Weekly. 

Paterson saw a post from Kind Cotton, a local sustainable clothing brand, about sending books to schools that were lost in the fire. Paterson saw teachers from these schools commenting on the post asking for help, so she reached out to them directly to offer support. She continued to post the flyer in several local Facebook groups and in her local bookstore. What started as Paterson’s small book drive flyer on social media quickly grew to a region-wide contribution as other Little Free Libraries in Simi asked if Paterson wanted to collaborate and act as a book drop-off site. On Jan. 25, a LFL from South Pasadena reached out to ask if there was a drop- off location closer to her. That’s when she decided to set up another location at Bob Smith Toyota, 3333 Foothill Blvd.  

Since donations opened on Jan. 16, other Little Free Libraries from across California and organizations like Friends of the Simi Valley Library, YA Books Central, and The Open Book store, and individual community members have donated over 5,000 books, with more to sort and box up for shipment to Altadena. 

The volunteer efforts are coordinated by Paterson and her husband with sorting help from a collection of family and friends. Books arrive daily to the drop-off center at Bob Smith Toyota in La Crescenta. The National Junior Honor Society at Simi Valley schools heard of her donation center and pitched in to help sort, too. Another Little Free Library offered to become a second drop location, due to the sheer number of donations coming to Paterson. 

“It really has been a community effort,” Paterson said. 

Putting together a massive drive on this scale is not without its challenges, especially with the large volume of books being accepted each day, but Paterson and her small team have their process down to a science. 

“We started in our enclosed patio room and eventually set up an intake system in our garage. We bring new donations in and sort them into large tote boxes by rough grade level bands. Then we curate boxes by grade level to ensure each box is getting a good mixture of genres and popular titles,” she said. While they aren’t seeking specific genres, though books for kids and teens are most needed, their main focus is on quality and relevant materials – new or lightly used books that are not overly outdated. 

Faced with so much loss and helplessness after watching the news of the fires for weeks, Paterson said participating in these types of donation events, she said, “gives people somewhere to positively direct that energy.” She has been surprised by the number of high quality books they have received, even whole series, to add to the pile. 

“It has been really inspiring to see how the community far and wide has come together to donate books and everything else across all of these donation drives. We have organizations as far away as Kentucky sending us books. The spirit of the community is the one bright spot in all of this loss,” she said. 

Paterson said she is proud they have been able to coordinate the efforts and provide some relief, even in a small way.

“There have been so many books coming in. Everything from classics to contemporary fiction and everything in between. Seeing entire sets of popular series get donated has been awesome because I know the kids will be so excited to see them on the shelves,” Paterson continued. 

When asked if there were any resources she needed from the community, Paterson said she has been fortunate to have a family to support her. 

“[They have] purchased moving boxes for us to package the books in,” she said. “We’ve gone through quite a bit of packaging tape and [disinfectant] wipes, too! So far, I think we’re good on resources.”

The community can continue to help by donating, or passing the information along to others. Donations can be dropped off at Bob Smith Toyota in its customer lounge during business hours (Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.). Paterson welcomes donations of new or gently used books for TK-12th grade. Donations are being accepted through Feb. 28. 

Anyone can set up a LFL to share books with their communities. They can go to http://littlefreelibrary.org/ if they want information on setting one up.  If any local businesses or Little Free Libraries would like to post a flyer, they can email Paterson for the PDF to print or they can pick one up at Bob Smith Toyota. 

“I would definitely encourage others to start their own LFL,” she said, “however, their main purpose is to share books, not necessarily to collect donations. Having easy access to books is essential for encouraging literacy, so the more LFLs, the better!”