Breanna Somoleski’s little library in Coaldale sees people from near and far who stop by to grab a book, leave one or both.

And now, the Bree Little Library at 261 Fifth St. has a greeter. Ronda the Caterpillar is made of painted rocks — just a few at the moment.

“I want to see her reach all the way to the fence,” said Somoleski, a 2024 Panther Valley graduate who started the little library a year ago outside her family’s home.

She’s hoping that folks who stop by will bring and add a painted rock, so that piece by piece and segment by segment, the colorful caterpillar creation will grow.

The idea for a rock caterpillar, she said, came after reading about another one at a little library.

“I thought, ‘That’s a really good idea,’ ” Somoleski said. “I had been wanting to do it for a while.”

When Somoleski stumbled upon a large stone — and one that she said was shaped like a head — she scooped it up and painted it. She added bright eyes and long eyelashes.

“I looked at her and said, ‘Her name is Ronda,’ ” Somoleski said.

Not wanting Ronda to be without any body parts, she and her mother, Chrissy, painted a few rocks.

And it didn’t take long for children in the neighborhood to add their own stones.

Somoleski is hoping the momentum continues. She promotes Bree Little Library on Facebook, and frequently adds posts to community groups in the Panther Valley and Tamaqua areas.

“It’s getting to the point where people are advertising me on Facebook,” she said. “One lady was asking (on Facebook) where she could donate children’s books, and someone said, ‘Bree Little Library.”

Visitors come from all over, including one woman who noted that she traveled two hours to the little library.

Somoleski knows because she keeps a notepad with the books and encourages visitors to sign it. It’s a source of happiness, she said, because she enjoys reading visitors’ comments.

“I have had a lot of good reviews, a lot of thank yous, and a lot of people saying that they will be back with books,” Somoleski said. “I love it. I especially love seeing little kids’ comments. Sometimes they will just write their names.”

Somoleski started the library because of her love for reading. Her father, Pete, anchored it into the ground last year.

She’s home on summer break from East Stroudsburg University, where — fittingly — she is an English major.