C.H. Booth Library has a new type of phone: a wind phone. Wind phones are phones that are not connected to any earthly thing. They are an opportunity for people to leave a message to loved ones who have passed, and the messages are brought to loved ones through the wind. The phone is a space to foster reflection, remembrance, and healing during any stage of the grieving process.

Wind phones are not a new concept. The first wind phone was created in 2010 in Japan by Itaru Sasaki, who lost his cousin to cancer. He installed a rotary phone in a phone booth in his garden that was not connected to anything. Here, Sasaki found a continued connection to his lost cousin.

The following year, an earthquake and tsunami hit the coast of Japan, devastating towns, cities, and thousands of families whose loved ones were dragged out to sea and never found again. After this disaster, Sasaki moved his phone booth to the base of Kujira-Yama, a small mountain next to the town of Ōtsuchi, the town with the highest number of missing persons following the tsunami.

Shari Merrill, head of adult services at C.H. Booth Library, said, “[The wind phone] caught on because so many thousands of people lost everything and were grieving. And then it spread all over the world.”

Jenn Nash, library director, said she saw the idea online somewhere and thought it was a great idea. She showed the idea to Merrill, and then the two were on the hunt for a wind phone. Merrill said her task was to design the phone for the library.

“It was fun … I thought about the age of the building and tried to find the phone that came from the era, and then I wanted to line the inside also with something from the era,” Merrill explained. She said she had gone to an antique warehouse somewhere along the Naugatuck River and, within five minutes of walking in, found a vintage 1930s rotary phone.

After finding the phone, Merrill then had to house it outside. Nash and Merrill decided on a Little Free Library structure because they are weather proofed already and “more secure.” Merrill said she thought the modern look of the Little Free Library structure complemented the vintage phone well.

Within the structure is also a little notebook and pen for phone users to write in if they wish. Phone users can write as little or as much as they would like. The phone is meant to be a place of “solace and contemplation” based on the “universal need for connection and remembrance.”

Nash said she hopes that “this phone offers comfort to anyone who has experienced loss or heartache … visitors are encouraged to approach with respect and sensitivity, take their time to reflect, and leave a written message in the provided journal if desired.”

The phone will be available whenever someone needs it. It is located on the front lawn of the library by the trees and birdbath. As Merrill said, it is a quiet area despite it being next to Main Street. Nash and Merrill hope people use it when they need, and if anyone needs extra support following loss, library staff can connect people to resources in town like support groups.

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.