Little libraries, big success
You get free books along with a sense of neighbourliness.
YES, walkers might pass the occasional Little Free Library that’s stuffed with junk – old religious tracts, sad coverless paperbacks, Readers Digest Condensed Books from 1957. But those aren’t the norm.
Nearly 10 years after they started in the Hudson, Wisconsin, front garden of a guy named Todd Bol, these little libraries-on-a-stick have spread across the United States, dispensing books, joy and a sense of community.
Bol’s original goal was 2,150 little libraries – to surpass the number of Carnegie libraries in the United States. (A Carnegie library is one built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie; there are about 2,000 of them.)
Ha! Think big, Bol; there are now more than 50,000 Little Free Libraries around the United States, in front gardens, in front of businesses, and at the gateways to parks. They’re stocked by anyone who has a book to get rid of; they’re depleted by anyone who sees a book they want.
People are still reporting spectacular finds, serendipitous treasures, even valuable volumes. Perhaps most important, these little libraries cause people to stop, ponder, look around – and walk away with something to read.
Here’s what some people have found in their local Little Free Library, e-mailed to the writer:
A sense of community: “I discovered Little Free Libraries (LFL) while walking with a friend in Bellevue, Washington,” writes Ron Stevens of Minneapolis. “Once I got home I researched them, eventually building one, and attached it to our picket fence.”
He and his friend discussed Helen Simonson’s novel Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand (2010), and not long afterward found that very book in a Little Free Library near their homes.
“The best thing about our LFL, though, is the ongoing experience of sitting on our front porch and talking with neighbours and other passersby. Some have even told us they feel the library helps bring the neighbourhood closer together.”
A first edition: “I found two wonderful classic volumes in the LFL on the east shore walking trail at Medicine Lake,” writes Ron Fideldy of Plymouth, Minnesota.
“The first was a 1926 first edition of Moby-Dick. The more valuable second find was a first edition of John Steinbeck’s Grapes Of Wrath from 1939. While the dust cover was missing, the tan cover has a brown line drawing of the Okie caravan heading westward.
“Just as Ishmael was drawn to the sea, my wife and I were drawn to the lake for our evening walk when I espied these two great works!”
A valuable autograph: “I live in the Longfellow neighbourhood,” writes Pat Murzyn. “In 2016 I read an article in the Star Tribune newspaper that (children’s books author) Kate DiCamillo was putting signed copies of her new book, Raymie Nightingale, in little free libraries.
“She is my granddaughter Ava’s favourite author. We often go for walks together so I told Ava we would check the little libraries for this book. At the fifth one, which was only a block from home, Ava said, ‘Grandma, here it is!’ We could not believe our luck! A signed copy! We still talk about how exciting it was.”
The perfect book: “In my St Louis Park neighbourhood you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a Little Free Library – they’re everywhere,” writes Heidi Czerwiec.
“But my favourite is at the corner of Morningside and Browndale, at a small wall decorated with beautiful plantings and a small fairy house.
“One day, a small green paperback caught my eye. Was it – ? It was! The New Roget’s Thesaurus In Dictionary Form, Revised Edition, edited by Norman Lewis. I have a copy of this thesaurus, bought in the early 1990s, that saw me through three degrees, two teaching jobs, and decades of writing. It’s now falling apart.
“Newer editions just don’t satisfy. I couldn’t believe my luck when I found the same thesaurus, but in nearly perfect condition, at the Little Free Library.”
Children’s books: “My adult children gave me a Library a few years ago as a gift,” writes Pam Gustafson. “I live on a corner that happens to be a school bus stop as well as an entrance to our neighbourhood park. While many books are exchanged, the children’s books are the ones to fly away and never return.”
Serendipity: “Among the treasures I’ve found in the past few years are pristine copies of Orange Is The New Black by Piper Kerman, the hardcover edition of A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihira, and Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (which I had been wanting to read again – and it showed up, just like magic!),” writes Rob Kirby of Minneapolis.
“I also take an odd pride in seeI’ve ing books contributed disapquickly, pearing especially ones I really want others to read.”
Books that lead to more books: “I’m always eyeballing the one on my block and lucky for me, I have a neighbour that shares my taste,” writes Sharon Wagner of Minneapolis.
“Recently, I picked up A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick on my street. It was a real page-turner. I even found something interesting in the acknowledgments. Goolrick stated that the book was inspired by Wisconsin Death Trip .Ihad never read it, even though it takes place near the town I grew up, Black River Falls. I bought the book and it is chilling.
“So one book led to anoth— er.” Star Tribune/Tribune News Service