Established in 2014, the Mary Spink Free Library was envisioned and created by Jennifer Poe as a lasting tribute to longtime housing activist and community advocate Mary Spink. Built from Mary's personal book collection and hundreds of books donated through a community-wide book drive, the library was thoughtfully designed to be a warm, welcoming space where residents could gather, discover new stories, and celebrate a lifelong love of reading.

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The library is located in the community room at 299 East 3rd Street and remains a place where neighbors can connect through books, learning, and the enduring spirit of Mary Spink.

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From Jennifer's remarks at the library's dedication:

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"There are many ways to get to know someone, but the most fun way is through a peek in their bookshelf. I wasn't at all surprised by what I found in Mary's.

Her fiction collection told me she loved street gangster lit, mysteries and thrillers just as much as the classics.

The poetry books she owned showed me her feminist side, adoration for underground Lower East Side poets and, from one of my favorite eras, the Beat poets and writers of the 1950s: Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, and the late, great Amiri Baraka.

I saw her vulnerable and intellectual side in the nonfiction she kept: books about the struggle of losing a parent, the complex theories of Sigmund Freud, and, not surprisingly, books on anger management.

When I saw all the memoirs, anthologies, and literature she owned about the Black experience in America, I realized that although she was born with privileged skin, she cared deeply about the civil rights and stories of African Americans. That realization made me feel even closer to her memory.

In short, her book collection is a true testament to the person she was: an intense, passionate woman who fought for the rights of the less fortunate, highly capable of sharing wisdom, yet fully willing and able to get street on you if she needed to."

 

– Jennifer Poe