Little Free Libraries

Have you noticed little tiny houses with little doors and books inside scattered around your neighborhood? If not, one may be coming to your area soon. Or maybe, you can encourage your family and friends to build and stock one.

A man named Todd Bol started the first Little Free Library in 2009 in Wisconsin after his schoolteacher mother died. He thought it would be a good way to honor her memory to share her love of books with the world. The first one was built to look like a little red schoolhouse. He made many more of them, and the idea caught on in cities all over the world. Today there are more than 90,000 Little Free Libraries in 91 countries.

These libraries work by exchange, which means you take a book you want to read and replace it with one you think someone might like to read. It is free! Little libraries have helped nurture the love of books and encouraged community sharing.

The idea of little libraries has extended to Little Pantries where people in a neighborhood stock the small public cupboards with food and other items for those in need. This is a quiet and gracious way of helping others and coming together as a community.

Another idea that grew out of these little libraries is a Toy Exchange. Families can get together and trade toys their children have outgrown for someone else’s toys. Toy Exchanges can also be small structures found in parks and beaches or wherever children play. Anyone can use the toys—all they have to do is replace them when they are done.

Keep a lookout for small little houses on sidewalks and lawns near you.