The Story of Our Lending Libraries

Follow the winding roads and lush-lined paths of The Crossvine and you’ll find places where stories are waiting to be told. They’re nestled in the heart of our community, and they’re called lending libraries.

Since 2015, The Crossvine has built 4 of these book-sharing structures throughout the neighborhood. The custom-designed cases are full of old classics, new adventures, and everything in between. The selection offers something for all ages, and best of all, the books are free to borrow.

While this started as a community library, it’s grown into something even bigger. In partnership with creative agency lookthinkmake, The Crossvine introduced a new chapter in its own book: The Crossvine Press. Through The Crossvine Press, public domain books receive custom-designed covers from the illustrators and designers at lookthinkmake. Every cover has its own personality with an aesthetic linked to the look, feel, and experience of the community it lives within.

In the past, the team has reimagined the covers of The Secret Garden, Peter Pan, Pride & Prejudice, Walden, Alice in Wonderland, and Dubliners. This month, two new covers will be introduced: The Jungle Book and The Call of the Wild (+ White Fang). These additions will join the family of books found in the lending libraries, and similar to the earlier books, some copies will travel beyond The Crossvine neighborhood.

Every new release from The Crossvine Press has made its way to the larger Schertz community through donations. Copies of The Jungle Book and The Call of the Wild (+ White Fang) will be donated to the Schertz Public Library and surrounding SCUC ISD schools in the new year. It’s a small token of The Crossvine’s appreciation for the community that surrounds it.

What started as a lending library is now a creative endeavor that serves our larger community. That’s the great thing about stories… they just get better by the chapter.