Passing a little library fills my heart right up. They are so sweet and encourage a generous community. From my hometown of Salt Lake City to a lovely German Village, I am finding little libraries everywhere.
A few years ago, I wrote Mini-missions for Simplicity including 36 little challenges that can result in massive change. Today I’d like to offer a new mini-mission inspired by our love for little libraries. How do I know you love little libraries too? When I share a picture of a little library on my Facebook Page or Instagram, those images receive more likes/shares/comments than almost anything else I post.
Take action today and choose one of the following mini-missions to continue to spread little library love.
1. Find a little library in your neighborhood and borrow a book or give a book.
2. Build a little library if you can’t find one and connect with your neighbors to see if they want to help.
3. Share this with someone who could use a smile. Little libraries make people smile!
4. Leave a comment on this post about a little library you love.
If these little libraries made you smile or this article made you more aware of the little libraries in your neighborhood we are already making tremendous progress with this world-smiling mini-mission. Thanks for your help. 😉
We have a darling Little Library right on our road. The neighbors in the only two story house put it there across from their home. My husband (with permission) put a Geocache on it, so they both get plenty of attention.
Wow, great idea!
We have a library room in my condo building. We also keep toys, games & puzzles there. Many of us don’t have children but have visitors w children. It’s a great way to keep everyone entertained without having to buy & store items that are rarely used.
I noticed you said in German Village. Is that German Village in Columbus. Ohio? I am about 20 miles South of there in a little burg, Ashville. We have a branch library there and if they have the minis, I am not aware of it, but at a church where I attend WW meetings, they have one.
The second picture featured is in Sonthofen, Germany. 😉
I LOVE the little library concept. We are fortunate to have several of these in our neighborhood…each with its own unique design…and contents. I walk the neighborhood dogs and find myself stopping at each one “just to take a peek”. It’s a calm, peaceful few minutes – and I usually find something I like. Three cheers for the Little Library!
I’m in the process of establishing a little library. My brother passed away last year in December. I’ve always enjoyed little libraries and aspired to have one. When Brian passed I decided to use a cabinet from his workshop and dedicate it to him. We are a family full of readers. What better way to remember my brother❤️
What better way indeed! I love your idea.
I love little libraries. They contain small treasures.
Tomorrow is our little boy’s 3rd heaven day. My husband built a little library for a local park where there are two benches in memory of our son and daughter, who both passed away in 2014, three months apart. Tomorrow we will put the library up and fill it with books that our children and us enjoyed. Hoping to bring smiles to many others like our children brought to us. And by the way it was you that inspired us to find something good to do with all their books that led us to the little library. Thank you! #fortheloveofabe #joyofmaryelizabeth
What a wonderful and heartwarming way for your children to be remembered.
Comfort to you…..and what a special way to keep your children’s memory alive and provide joy, adventure and learning to live on through others! Hoping time is helping your pain decrease….but the memories are so precious!
Thank you for sharing your children’s story with us and such a sweet way to remember them with the books they loved. Your children’s memory will love on through these books. May God bless you.
I like the Little Library in front of my own house. I just wish it got more traffic.
There is a “free shelf” in our public library that works like a little free library except that it is not accessible 24/7. Special shout outs to the library in the Sandwichtown Community Garden in Windsor, Ontario; the TARDIS little free library in Mize, MS; and my childhood friend’s front yard version in her high end neighborhood near Lafayette, LA.
I am having a Little Free Library being installed in my hometown of Manahawkin, NJ as we speak! The township is installing the post at one of our beautiful parks, where there is a playground & park benches and where the town holds many festivals & activities. We are so excited to get it up & running!! You are right, they really do make people smile!
We’ve got a few little libraries in the North Park neighborhood of San Diego! I love them. I have borrowed and left books. What a great reminder to see what’s newly available!
Just a thought, sr centers, double day cares(in Canada/UK, both Elders and preschoolers share daycare together play games, contests, read, sing and dance together).Some starting in USA!
Extended grandparents idea!(fyi:18 – 36 months to elimiate germs from paper)
I have been, and am now a HUGE library user [when my kids were little, there was a 50 book limit – we took that many out every time we were at the library, and we went at least once a week, plus, one of my kids, starting in middle school had a personal reading goal of 60K PAGES a year (not a typo)], so I am a big supporter of libraries and library use. It is one of the FREE (well, tax paid, but you have to pay those anyway) FABULOUS things that are available to everyone and, in my opinion, somewhat underutilized.
I work at an elementary school. We have a good library and a WONDERFUL librarian (really, some of the stuff she thinks up for generating interest in various genres are wonderful – I could go on and on about her). We also have a Little Library just outside the school grounds.
I often think of them as a sort of those Fairy Houses people sometimes set up, only much better. I think, if I were a parent, I would be salting my local Little Library with books my kid would like/want, so they could “discover” them there on a walk later in the day. If they were already taken, well, good, and if not, well, that’s good too.
Anyway, big fan.
I adore little libraries as well! Some of my favorites were in Denver CO, Tamsweg Austria, Nancy France, Colmar France, and Munich Germany. We don’t have one in our town…maybe I should do something about that! 🙂
I especially love when I find these on vacation – I can pass on whatever I have finished reading and find something new – less to carry!
I love libraries, bookmobiles and little libraries! My most recent discovery is near the lighthouse in Havre de Grace MD which was already a favorite daytrip for my husband and me.
We live in NE MPLS. You literally cannot walk a block without seeing a little library. Our neighbor next door has one and it even matches her house. I love the reuse/share mentality. A church near my son’s school has a “little pantry” where people can share non perishable food goods. Love it!
We have a Little Library fairly near our house and it is sponsored by the church next to it. This was a good reminder to me to think about sticking it when I have excess books. In addition our public library sponsors a magazine exchange. I hardly ever buy magazines and am constantly reading and exchanging them.
What a fabulous idea! And I have loved reading everyone’s comments!!
I am a reader extraordinare and usually have 2 or 3 books going at the same time, with a few in the wings!!
We spend the month of Feb in Indian Rocks Beach Fl, and found 2 little libraries there last year, each at a beach access parking lot!!
I borrowed and supplied over the month! So interesting to see what I’d find every few days!!
In Australia these are called street libraries, and we found a cute one in Jamberoo, NSW. There are also box libraries (a yellow box full of books) that get distributed to doctors surgeries, hairdressers etc in remote towns where there often isn’t a library at all. Its such an important resource for communities who may not have other access to books. Plus it was great for travellers like us to use the street library to swap all out books without having to worry about registration or returning them.
I love this! I’ve seen a ton of them since moving to Salt Lake/Park City and I always fall in love with each new one. I got an organic cook book and an awesome novel by Isabel Allende from the one in my neighborhood and then passed them on to a mini library at the school where I work. I love the community aspect and the sharing. Sometime I put little notes in the cover to share how the book had meaning for me and then request others to do the same when they finish 🙂 it’s a little anonymous storytelling that goes along with the actual book. I love that.
Are you related to Robyn Carver?
Not that I know of!
I started keeping books to share in the car, since my children and I can hardly walk past a little library without lea I got with a book. This way, we rotate the books around different city parks and practice sharing our books with others.
Sorry–auto correct! We leave with books!
We have a community library in our co-op and any books I no longer need to keep get donated there. We also do book swaps at work and leave books we wish to pass forward on a table in our lobby.
It’s not an actual Little Library, but there is a spot in the break room where my husband works where you can take a book and if you want to keep it, please bring a book. There is also a store in town that has several shelves of books that can be borrowed and another one left in its place. I’ve been able to help myself to books and share in both places.
We have a little library! We installed our lilliput library about a month ago, and it’s getting a huge amount of use. Here’s ours: https://www.instagram.com/p/BVbZ0V4AVnu/?taken-by=leanneindunedin
We encourage our kids to donate their books, once they’re done with them, to the library. It’s a good way to teach them to pass things on that we no longer need.
Sometimes the library runs short on stock. When that happens, I pop down to the local Hospice Shop, and buy a mix of books – 10 books for $2 – to fill the library with new stock again. That way, I’m supporting our local charity and giving new books to our community at the same time 🙂
For three years we lived in a motorhome touring the USA. Many RV parks have laundries where people trade books. Some have actual libraries where the books are free to trade. The Bureau of Land Management’s La Posa South Long Term Visitor Area near Quartzsite, AZ, has a bookcase right inside the registration area. Cracker Barrel Restaurants/Stores have audio books you can check out at one location then return to a different one on down the road. Now many libraries have audio books you can download wherever you are. As a dedicated reader I appreciate having all these options when I am far from my home library.
I live on Cape Cod, MA and we have Little Libraries by the Sea, located at many of our beaches so when you need a beach book, you’re in luck!
It’s some kind of a little library but better described as a “for free shelf” we set up last month in a public building in my village. You can put in all kinds of household items except clothing, food, dangerous or bulky items. Only accessible when a butcher’s shop is open, but in a dry and safe place so it can’t be vandalised. To see what comes in a goes out frequently is very pleasing. I found a very good scientific book I would have never noticed without the shelf, probably. It helps the community and the environment.
Courtney, great idea to promote this!
While in the military, volunteer groups would donate boxes of books for us to choose from and swap around while out in the field. Usually the box was left with the supply or KP folks since everyone needs supplies and food!
Although always busy on a field problem, having a moment of escape through a book was welcome. Many of my comrades who NEVER read while on post could be caught reading something while on a little down time and then swapping out the “best book EVER!” with others. It was so nice.
There’s a little library along the Upper Charles Trail in Milford, MA. Books and bikes: two of my favorite things!
As a librarian, I’d like to chime in and say — if you cannot maintain a little library yourself or see that your local little library is not well-cared for, your local library may have a Friends group that does a regular book sale. By donating books that are ready to find their next user, you’re helping your local community (often with a wider reach than Little Library users) and supporting local government, too! Although I’m not a big buyer, I try to shop those annual or bi-annual sales for things I can read, enjoy, and pass on because I love my county’s (and state’s) library and see how much they do in programs as well as with the materials they lend. Just another idea to support increased literacy in our communities!
I am a neonatal intensive care registered nurse and I curate a free book exchange for our staff and their families in our break room! We have more children’s books than adult books which I am happy to make use of for my two sons, who we homeschool. I tried to advocate for making the book exchange a legitimate Little Free Library but it didn’t pass committee approval, oh well!
We installed our red Free Little Library three years ago, in our front yard. Since we live on a circular road, people walk that route, and as they do, they pass our library. I try to change the books every three weeks or so. I think it helps maintain interest. Some of the walkers will comment how much they love the library. It makes neighbors happy too. After I have rotated a book two or three times, it goes to our local library for the book sale. Free Little Libraries are a great way to promote reading as well as sharing.
For your readers in East London, (UK). I help run a book swap inside the train / underground station at Stratford. It’s a small set of shelves that has a huge throughput of books and magazines of all genres. The station has 1,000’s of people using it everyday so it gets lots of use. I love chatting to people using the shelves as I am adding books myself. Often people are surprised to see this in London as it is more common in rural stations. It just shows you can have a book swap almost anywhere!