Thursday, April 10, 2014

Take a Book; Leave a Book: Little Free Libraries

(Credit Given to this Website)
And yes my Birdies, that is a tardis...
Have you ever wished there was a place where you could just exchange books, without even ever having to find friends and family or even needing to leave your neighborhood? Well, see there's this thing called Little Free Libraries that allows you do to just that!

What is Little Free Libraries?
These are boxes placed in communities, buildings, neighbors, etc, where anyone can drop off books and take books for free. You can have them officially registered on the website and you can check out to see if there's any near you by using the map.

History of LFL.
 In 2009, Todd Bol and Rick Brooks started the project after Bol created a little home for free books in his yard. His neighbors loved it and it grew from there. 
(Taken from their website)
They were inspired by many different ideas:
  • Andrew Carnegie’s support of 2,509 free public libraries around the turn of the 19th to 20th century.
  • The heroic achievements of Miss Lutie Stearns, a librarian who brought books to nearly 1400 locations in Wisconsin through “traveling little libraries” between 1895 and 1914.
  • “Take a book, leave a book” collections in coffee shops and public spaces.
  • Neighborhood kiosks, TimeBanking and community gift-sharing networks
  • Grassroots empowerment movements in Sri Lanka, India and other countries worldwide.
 Their Mission
  • 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.
 Benefits of having one (according to the website).
  • People meet more neighbors and passers-by than they have in years.
  • They often spend time getting to know people as well as books.
  • They value the free-wheeling exchange of books, especially because they are often surprised by the variety and quality of the collections.
  • They like giving as much as –or perhaps even more than—taking books. • Little Free Libraries are likely to have a positive influence on community quality of life and social capital.
  • Small, local business owners report that Little Free Libraries help them attract and keep customers.
  • Realtors have said that Libraries (big and small) have influenced potential homebuyers to decide to settle on one neighborhood rather than another.
  • The vast majority of public and school librarians fully support the concept and role of Little Free Libraries as outreach and inreach tools for library success.
  • Children, youth and adults of all ages and backgrounds can share in the give and take. People of widely diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds participate in this grassroots effort.
Extra Stuff about it
Its doesn't cost much to start your own little library and if you can't make your own, you can also buy an already made little library. There's a "get involved" page if you find yourself wanting to make your own or want to start one in your community. My own tiny little hometown recently got one and it's pretty cute. I haven't been able to use it yet since I've been at school since they started it, but I plan to use it this summer while I'm home. I'll take a picture too and update it to this post.

Anyways, so I really like the idea of having a place to exchange books. I like getting new books and giving away books I don't particularly find myself wanting. I'm not sure how much my community will really get into meeting each other more because of it, but we're a pretty small town so you can just walk outside your house and see everyone within a few minutes. And everyone knows everyone else who lives in the town, so we're pretty tight knit, I guess you could say.

But who doesn't like free books? Its also a great way to promote reading, which I think is very important. Studies have shown numerous benefits to people who read a lot.

So go find a book to read. And leave a book for someone to read.

Or go find your own Free Little Library.

Sincerely,
Sareh

3 comments:

  1. This looks like such a cool idea! Where I live though, the books would just get stolen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is!
      Aw! That is disappointing! I guess technically you really steal free books, but those people wouldn't leave any in return though, I'm guessing. :(

      Delete
    2. If they did leave something it'd probably be empty beer cans or fast food packaging.

      Delete

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