By Willa Gruver, Resilient Communities Program Manager
SuSol Program Manager Willa Gruver cuts the ribbon at the dedication of the new Little Free Library in Rio Vista
SuSol installed a Little Free Library in the verge strip next to the Rio Vista Roots Community garden on Sept. 6. This library will serve as a resource for the community and was made possible by the Rio Vista Youth Air Protectors program.
This community library was made possible by the work of many hands. It was created collaboratively by the Rio Vista High School woodshop students who built it, the Youth Air Protectors who painted it, the SuSol team members and volunteers who installed it, and the greater Rio Vista community, who came together to contribute books and install a pollinator garden around the base of the library.
The Youth Air Protectors program and our air quality work in Rio Vista is funded through the California Air Resources Board and is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment — particularly in disadvantaged communities.
This library is being hosted and stewarded by the newly established Rio Vista Roots community garden, and will contribute to its vision of the garden as a vibrant community space and social hub.
The Rio Vista Youth Air Protectors worked in small groups back in March to design and paint each side of the library with artwork of their choice
We also painted kindness rocks to spread positive messages around the site and neighborhood.
The native pollinator garden was planted with California native plants such as Yarrow, California Fuschia, Blue Sage, and Narrow Leaf Milkweed that will provide valuable habitat for butterflies and other insects, while also beautifying the site and providing benefits to the air, soil and water quality in Rio Vista.
This event provided an opportunity to discuss our local air quality, a topic that is of particular importance in Rio Vista. Rio Vista is in the 86th percentile of California census tracts for ER visits due to asthma. It is in the 84th percentile for ER visits due to heart attacks; both of these conditions are exacerbated by poor air quality.
Community members were able to sign up to receive free air purifiers from the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District, provide feedback on air quality solutions they would like to see in their community, and learn more about health impacts and mitigation tactics.
These plants will grow quickly and provide food and habitat for birds, butterflies and other beneficial insects.
Rio Vista community members gave feedback on what types of air quality solutions they’d like to see implemented in their community.
We filled the library with resources that address air quality and environmental health (for all ages). If you’re in the neighborhood, we hope you’ll stop by, take a book, and leave a book!
If you’d like to get involved, we’re seeking volunteers to help steward (and weed) the pollinator garden. Please email nicole@sustainablesolano.org if you’re interested. You can find out more about our upcoming events at sustainablesolano.org/events – we’d love to see you there!
