The concept is simple: take a book, return a book. And with that, what began as a single Little Free Library in Hudson, Wis., is now spreading from lawn to lawn around the globe.
After co-founder Todd Bol’s mother passed away, in honor of her love for books he built a miniature library and placed it outside his home. The books were for anyone to take, and the idea took off.
With the help of co-founder Rick Brooks, that single library has grown to include little libraries in nearly every state in the United States and in a handful of countries around the world.
The librarians, or stewards, can register for free and find instructions for building their own library to place outside their home at littlefreelibrary.org. The small rooftop boxes are then filled with books and displayed, similar to a mailbox, for easy access to anyone.
The more accessible the library, the more it promotes community inclusiveness.
“The vast majority of emails that we receive will say, ‘I’ve met more people in the last couple of days than I’ve met in the last couple years,’” says Bol. “People want to connect face-to-face.”
Bol sees the little libraries as an important medium in helping people reconnect with their neighborhoods, a relationship many have grown away from.
“What’s happened to us is we have a primal need to be with our community. Now we have so many things that pull us apart, but the little libraries brings us together,” he says. “It represents the community and a natural extension of ourselves.”
As for vandalism, though there have been some incidents, Bol says the cases are very few simply because the community feels like the libraries are theirs to cherish. “People feel it’s a part of their neighborhood, so they feel more respectful since it’s coming from the community.”
Seattle resident Michelle Nash mounted her library on April 17 of this year.
