A Tiny Library With a Big Story to Tell

You could walk right past it in under ten seconds, but the newest addition to the Tomaquag Museum invites visitors to stop, open a door, and leave with a new perspective.

Located on the museum’s Exeter campus, a newly installed Little Free Library does more than share books. The colorful outdoor box carries Indigenous storytelling into the community and gives readers across Rhode Island new opportunities to connect with Indigenous voices and contemporary experiences.

Now part of the Little Free Library network, the installation welcomes visitors to embrace its familiar motto: take a book, share a book. For the Tomaquag Museum, that simple exchange advances a larger mission by bringing Indigenous-authored and Indigenous-centered literature to more readers.

The museum already houses a non-circulating reference library with more than 1,500 publications, but this miniature library creates a new path to discovery beyond museum walls. Education Manager Chrystal Mars Baker curated the collection with books by Indigenous authors and titles that reflect Indigenous experiences across generations.

“These books were selected to deepen readers’ understanding and appreciation of Indigenous issues and perspectives,” Baker said.

Museum leaders pursued the project for more than a year before bringing it to life. After winning a Little Free Library drawing, Tomaquag received the custom library box and nearly 50 books through the organization’s Indigenous Library programs and Read in Color initiative.

The library itself tells a story before visitors even open the door. Indigenous artist Silvermoon LaRose created the vibrant exterior artwork inspired by this year’s RI 250 theme, “Revolution: Asserting Sovereignty through Literature,” celebrating storytelling as a powerful force for cultural expression and self-determination.

Inside, readers will find another thoughtful touch: each book includes a special bookplate that grants one complimentary admission to the Tomaquag Museum’s new 250th exhibit.

Additional support from the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Narragansett–Cooke–Gaspee Chapter will place more Indigenous-authored books in Little Free Library locations across the state. For more information about the Tomaquag Museum and its programs, visit tomaquagmuseum.org.