I first heard about the “Little Free Library” movement in early 2014.
My wife Beth saw a Facebook Share and said, “Hey, you have to watch this video.”
I’m like, “Yeah, yeah. I’m busy doing important stuff” and kept putting off watching the short two-and-a-half minute clip.
Finally, in exasperation, my wife Beth said, “If you don’t watch this short video, I will never again go with you to see another Stallone, Schwarzenegger, or Jason Statham movie.”
Huh, what? This was serious. She was playing hardball…
Okay, send me the link and I’ll watch it…
So she sent me the link to the Little Free Library Organization’s website and said to watch a very sweet and short video on their site which I’ll make easy for you to watch by including it here:
After watching the video, I was enthralled by the idea of the Little Free Library. “Take a book. Return a book.” As an avid reader, I couldn’t stop thinking about the Little Free Library movement.
Then I saw this adorable video!
I was hooked!
The Little Free Library’s site has a map of all the registered Little Free Library’s worldwide and I found that the nearest Little Free Library from our neighborhood in Cincinnati was over 10 miles away.
That cemented it: We were going to install our own Little Free Library.
The next decision was whether to “buy” or “build” a Little Free Library. The Little Free Library Organization sells finished Little Free Libraries, do-it-yourself kits, and also provides detailed schematics for building your own.
When I searched the web, I found many great photos of Little Free Libraries that were from people who had built their own and were very creative about it!
I love building things. It gets my creative juices flowing. “To create something out of nothing that inspires people” is a passion of mine. I like to “Wow” people.
So my wife Beth said, “Why don’t you build a Little Free Library using that old antique dresser we have that we’re not using?” I thought that was a great idea!
I spent 3 delightful weeks transforming that dresser into a Little Free Library. (You can walk through that transformation in the menu bar at the top of this page.)
Today, my wife Beth and I love being stewards of a Little Free Library. The library has created a center point in our neighborhood, especially among kids.
The Little Free Library Organization suggests putting a “guest book” in your library for people to make notes about the books they’ve donated or read. We followed that advice and now our guest book is full of great comments and short book reviews.
If you don’t have a Little Free Library in your neighborhood, I urge you to consider adding one. It’s incredible how rewarding it is to host a Little Free Library. For guidelines, check out the Little Free Library Organization’s website for more information.
Readers are Leaders!
– Steve
