Batavia woman makes neighborhood ‘stick library’ for dogs: ‘I think it brings joy to people’

Kathy Freedlund says she’s always walking her one-year-old mini-Bernedoodle named Remy.

On her foot travels, the longtime Batavia resident sees little neighborhood libraries around town, where passersby can take and leave books for free.

But, one day, as she walked her dog and passed by one of these little libraries, Freedlund had an idea: what if she made a library for sticks, so dogs, too, could take part in the fun?

“What dog doesn’t like a good, juicy stick?” she asked.

Freedlund, 74, got the idea up and running last month — though she refers to it as Remy’s business venture.

The idea is a sort of riff on the little libraries concept, which is essentially a free book exchange. The Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization that aims to build community and expand access to books, according to its website.

And, while Freedlund’s isn’t the first or only stick library, she thinks the new fixture brings a little extra joy to the community.

Freedlund — a recreation supervisor at the Batavia Park District, who teaches fitness and yoga — has lived in Batavia for 50 years. Growing up in Plainfield, Freedlund had all kinds of dogs, from beagles to schnoodles to mutts. She continued to own dogs as an adult.

But, after her Havanese died two years ago, Freedlund didn’t think she and her husband would get another dog. Then they got Remy.

Like her love for dogs, part of the stick library also dates back to Freedlund’s childhood.

In the 1960s, when Freedlund was in middle school, her best friend’s dad decided to build a hot dog stand in Plainfield called the “Puppy Hut,” which Freedlund worked at during middle school, through high school and into her college years.

When it eventually closed down, she got a sign from the stand with the Peanuts character Snoopy on it.

Freedlund hung onto the sign all these years, keeping it in her garage. Then, when she thought of the stick library idea, she was presented with an opportunity to put Snoopy to good use.

Her husband helped with making the stick library structure, which features the old Snoopy sign, and, as of last month, the idea was a go. A Facebook post about her creation has since garnered more than a thousand likes and dozens of comments and shares in a local Batavia Facebook group.

Passersby laugh when they see it in person, according to Freedlund. Some people leave it untouched, but others come away with a special treat for their pet.

“It’s just fun to watch,” Freedlund said. “I have a big window in the front of our house, and when I’m … in the house, I’ll glance out the window, and I’ll see people walk by with their dogs.”

As sticks get taken, Freedlund and her husband make sure to replenish the library. When she’s on a walk and sees someone leave out old branches to be picked up, she says she brings some home to keep the library stocked.

Maybe in the future, she mused, Remy will want to expand the business and offer treats of some kind.

In the meantime, she hopes the addition to the neighborhood can make people smile.

“I think it brings joy to people,” Freedlund said. “Maybe somebody’s having a bad day, and how can you not laugh when you see a dog stick library?”

mmorrow@chicagotribune.com