Kenton's Library

I have always loved books. In fact, one of my favorite childhood memories is of going to the old library on Main Street on hot summer days and returning with a book in tow. So many books hold memories for me.

Books often share the most cherished love stories, but once in awhile you get to see a "real life" love story play before your eyes. For me, it is Jenny's and Kenton's love story. Their love is inspiring. And while Kenton has passed from this life, Jenny finds a real life connection to him through the books and poetry he loved.

Jenny hopes others will choose to connect to those they love as well. Whether it be through lines of poetry or a list of titles, read, embrace, and absorb "words." Words are art played out on pages; they tell stories. Words are the witnesses of our lives.

Charles Kenton Call was an avid reader. Books were his “friends on shelves” and he shared them with everyone. This month marks the one year passing of Kenton. Kenton was diagnosed with Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer NET, in November 2018. In honor of his life and love of literature, his wife, Jenny, and their four children: Elsie, Adelaide, Norah, and Theodore erected a Little Free Library near 2298-2350 North Cottontail Drive in Fiddlers Canyon. Jenny’s brother built the library and each of the four children left their “thumbprint” on its design.

The ribbon cutting ceremony for Kenton’s library was held in honor of what would have been his 46th birthday, September 29, 2022. Family and Friends donated books to the library and gathered to celebrate his life, love, and friendship. “Kenton had a powerful way of bringing people together toward a common purpose.” His library is but a small symbol of what he did every day.

Let’s Join Kenton:

There is a phenomenon spreading across the world promoting literacy- it is also

preserving the written word in book form. This phenomenon is a “new take” on

the traditional library. It is the “Little Free Library.” There are over 60,000 of

these libraries dotting the globe today. They come in various shapes and sizes,

but they all have the same mission- “Let’s read again.”

The idea behind the Little Free Library is “leave a book, take a book.” These

libraries are for kids and adults alike. It’s a way to have a library in your own front

yard. Not only, do Little Free Libraries promote literacy, but they also promote

neighborhood interaction as neighbors come together in the “real world” and not just on

social media.

Five Steps for beginning your own “Little Free Library”

l. Identify a location and a steward- be sure to observing zoning laws

2. Order or build a library- www.littlefreelibrary.com- It need not be extravagant.

Check out resources- on line catalogs, plans and tips for builders, community

grants. It can be done on a shoe string budget.

3. Register library on line. This registration provides benefits and tips from the

organization and puts your library on the map.

4. Garner support- Have a ribbon cutting ceremony, invite neighbors and friends

in person, and send out a press release to the local papers.

5. Take back quiet moments, develop your own imagination – READ! Little Free

libraries and stewards everywhere have been recognized by The Library of

Congress for creating communities of Literacy!

Location of Little Free libraries in Cedar City include:

129 North 500 West, Cedar City Utah, #2104; Care and Share Little Free Library, 222 W 900 N, #7098;Bulloch/Gillette 942 East Fiddlers Canyon Road; #154770; 817 E Fenwick Way, #104578; 3864 N Monarch Dr. #125512; 1774 E Sunset Rd, #109211; 847 E. Highlands Dr. #9393; 552 S. 940 W. #95539; 594 S 515 West, #76296; Canyon Creek Trail, #110713; 102 N 200 E, #89613;

Must Read Books by local authors: Elaine Vickers, Fadeaway, Like Magic, Thankful, and Paper Chains; Rosalyn Eves, Blood Rose Rebellion, Lost Crow Conspiracy, Beyond Mapped Stars, Horses Hounds and Happily Ever After, Janet and Michael Weaver, The Apology as well as books by Micah Player, Todd Petersen, and other members of the SUU faculty.

Kenton loved Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. This is an excerpt from the preface of 1855 edition:

“This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.”