The Little Free Library Project

A Little Free Library that stands outside of a church in
my hometown of Chester, South Carolina, USA.

As an advocate for public libraries and reading initiatives for people of all ages, this blogger is a huge fan of community projects that promote the joy of reading.

Yeah, I suppose I just outed myself as one of those weirdos who still think that public libraries and physical books still serve a purpose in a digital world where Kindles and other hand-held electronic devices provide just about any novel at your fingertips.

Well call me old fashioned, or a Gen-Xer (both would be accurate) but no Kindle will ever be able to replace the feel of a nicely worn paperback, or the smell of glue and paper from a new hardcover book. Sure Kindles can be carried anywhere, are less cumbersome, take up less space, and can hold more information; but for me staring at a lit up screen is a poor substitute for losing yourself in the words printed on a page (and its far better on your eyes in the long run too!)

And books don't break down so easily either!

Quite recently, in the last couple of years, I've been very pleased by a somewhat new trend that has been popping up in my hometown, and in the the neighboring counties: Little Free Libraries.

These popular little book exchange boxes -- which some folks around my corner of South Carolina like to jokingly call "human bird feeders" -- provide easy access to free books for people (particularly young folks) to find physical books to read. Little Free Libraries are also referred to as community book exchanges, neighborhood book exchanges, book trading posts, pop-up libraries, and micro-libraries.

The idea behind these book exchanges is simple: If you want a book, you take a book and leave another in its place. Some people donate used books to these little boxes and leave them for someone else to enjoy.

Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization that supports the worldwide movement to offer free books housed in small containers to members of the local community. The organization is based in Hudson, Wisconsin, USA.

The idea was popularized in 2009 when a man named Todd Bol from Hudson, Wisconsin mounted a wooden container designed to look like a school house on a post on his lawn as a tribute to his mother, who was a book lover and school teacher. Bol shared his idea with his partner, Rick Brooks, who spread the word, and the idea spread rapidly across the American Midwest. By February 2013 all 50 U.S. States had Little Free Libraries.

Library owners can create their own library box, usually about the size of a doll house, or purchase one from the website. For a fee, libraries may be registered and assigned a number at the organization's website. Owners receive a sign that reads: Little Free Library, and often includes the phrase: "Take a Book. Leave a Book."

The international logo of the Little Free Library project.

Mr. Bol tragically passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2018 at the age of 62, but his wonderful tribute to his mother and the outstanding idea that it spawned lives on, not just here in the United States, but also across the entire world.

The Little Free Library World Map lists the locations of all registered boxes with GPS coordinates and information. As of 2020, there are nearly 100,000 Little Free Libraries registered across the world in over 90 countries, with millions of books donated, or exchanged. Many of these have been donated to rural areas that have no libraries of their own or that have been affected by natural disasters. Little Free Libraries come in all shapes and sizes, from small wooden houses to small building-sized libraries.

The following are photos I've taken of Little Free Libraries erected in my hometown and throughout the neighboring counties of York, Lancaster, and Union in upstate South Carolina. As y'all can see they are quite artistic in many cases and come in various sizes.

 

The books usually found in these boxes range from young reader books for children, to young adult novels, religious books (Bibles and Christian novels), and even adult mystery and suspense novels. You can find anything from the always popular Amelia Bedelia and Marc Brown's Arthur books, to literary classic novels, or fantasy and science fiction stories; even adult stories like the 50 Shades of Grey series. Some people even leave DVD movies and music CDs, even old Cassette tapes.

Little Free Libraries work very well considering that they rely on more than just a little bit of goodwill from the local communities -- especially considering what jerks people can be these days, even here in the American South. 

Many of these libraries show up in front of existing public libraries, churches, schools, and other public facilities. I'm also pleased to let y'all know that these little boxes (and sometimes not so little ones) also appear in poorer neighborhoods and rural areas where people don't usually have easy access to books -- something I would strongly continue to encourage more of in order to give people, especially young ones, a chance to lose themselves in the joy of reading.