Alice spotted this over at Apartment Therapy and I thought it was a great idea and a cute little tiny library. http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/little-free-library-172476
I personally have not seen these on a yard near me but maybe you have or will soon. Started two years ago by a man who was honoring his book-loving teacher mom it has blossomed into over hundreds all around the world.
The Little Free Library is built of recycled materials such as barn wood, old cranberry crates, etc.
The Mission Statement of the Little Free Library is: To promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide. To build a sense of community as we share skills, creativity, and wisdom across generations. To build more than 2,510 libraries around the world – more than Andrew Carnegie!
Why don’t you start one in your yard today…
Photo Credits: Little Free Library
Delightful. I saw something like this while camping in central Oregon. It was a tiny book shop with an “honor system” tin can where you could put your money. I have to build one of these…
An amazing idea. I would love to do this, but even out here in the country, we have a lot mailbox theft, so I am sure a little library on along the road would grab the attention of these thieves.
great use of materials .gives me some more ideas for tiny houses.A little bigger and we could get inside.I want to 😉
This is kinda fun… I wonder if that would work well if I tried it in the city… I live in an apartment complex. That would be great if I could. I like my neighbors but I wonder how this would work.
Holmes, I agree… this would be great in certain areas like assisted living/senior housing, even in the lounge of a nursing home! In neighborhoods where there are a large percentage of elderly, a ‘little library’ provides a wonderful reasonto take that short walk every day or so (pick up/drop off books), and adds a little ‘something new’ to the ordinary days… I, too, hesitate to think this could be something that would work ‘everywhere’: the irony is, an inner city ‘projects’ neighborhood is precisely where kids need it the most, but at the same time the very place it would be disrespected the most(sadly), with books disappearing and never coming back, vandalism, etc.
I love its ‘honor system’ approach, and, in places where honor is practiced, I can see it needing to be added-on/enlarged relatively quickly, once people start bringing and dropping off more books than they take home to read… 😉
I think it is definitely worth a try. I live in a small town and the library is pretty accessible, but this is a fun idea. I wonder if the library would even participate or if the city would allow it to be placed in the park. It would be fun to have one for youth and one for adults.
This is cool. And no lending library / book exchange is complete without a Clive Cussler book sitting on the shelf.
For sure!
LOL! I saw that one too.
My mouth is agape. That is so fabulous. The coffee shop I went to in Santa Cruz had a bookshelf with a “take one, leave one” system and it was great.
Where I live, we have a library that keeps ‘free books’ on shelves on a covered porch, but we’re constantly exchanging books with each other, so this would be great! What a wonderful idea.
Not a new idea – I remember seeing these when I was a kid! They’re so magical <3
If a tiny library was stocked with ten cent books from a thrift store, garage sale, or the donated books rack at the public library, theft wouldn’t be a big loss.
Love these- I’ve been planning on building one or two for the local area for awhile, just haven’t gotten to it…..great cause/project.
-Deek
So far there has been nothing but positive responses, Plus it would be a fun thing to participate in as well..
A lot of international hostels and hotels have a bookcase or shelf with an unofficial ‘take one, leave one’ policy.
I’ve always loved that about travelling, because I never know what I’m going to stumble across, and I enjoy leaving my books for others to discover.
My mum used to leave ‘travelling’ books in public spaces, like food courts, bus stops, airports. She would put an inscription inside in the form of a poem I can’t remember saying ‘I am a travelling book, take me with you, read me, then leave me for somebody else’. we found one that she had started a few years later, and there were many names listed inside and places the book had been.
What a marvelous idea! I have so many books to offer. But having HOA approval – another story…
ahhh – 2leftsocks – DO IT and ask forgiveness later. When it is something beautiful and magical as this, you may not get any negative feedback.
How wonderful!!
These are popping up around Wisconsin!! Awesome idea!
My friends have a little free library hutch on their parking strip in Portland Oregon. Love it!
I just saw something about this on television.
It talked the same things you wrote about.
I go to university in Canada and we just learned about this in class.
Thanks for helping me with the conclusion
of my report.
Thanks for the outline of television stuff.
I totally think that cable television is going to go away.
Or at a minimum have to change with the times.
Online television is definitely the wave of the
future. As internet speeds get quicker, everyone will be watching their shows on sites like this.
What does anyone know about this? I think there’s a lot more to the concept
I was just watching this on TV this week. They talked about the same things you wrote about.