Police officers are handing out free books as part of a new initiative on Staten Island. 

The NYPD and HEALTH for Youths is partnering with the non-profit organization Little Free Library to bring more book exchanges to Staten Islanders.  Residents will be able to visit designated police stations to pick up or drop off new or gently used books. 

Executive Director of  Little Free Library Todd Bol says it's one way to start a positive dialogue between the community and police officers, adding "we have this goal that ten years from now, when you ask a 17 or 18 year old boy or 20 year old girl whoever, what do you remember about police. They say well they're the ones who gave me a book about frogs and dinosaurs. And we want that to be a dialogue."

Some police cars will also be designated as mobile libraries for officers to give out books, while working within the community.