Rebekah Kaufman of Catonsville checks on the Little Free Library book box in her front yard. Someone left copies of “Treasure Island” and “Huckleberry Finn” inside. “Real classics,” she says. She keeps these books in the library for younger readers in the community.
You may have seen a box similar to Kaufman’s Little Free Library in your neighborhood. Little Free Libraries are enclosed boxes of books. You can take a book or leave a book you love. Designs for the boxes vary; some look like little houses, others are like miniature cabinets. These libraries are part of a grassroots network designed to increase access to books and strengthen community.
A Look at Little Free Library History
Todd Bol, the son of a teacher who loved to read, created the first Little Free Library in 2009. He built a cabinet shaped like a miniature one-room schoolhouse and placed it in his Wisconsin front yard. He filled the cabinet with books anyone could borrow. His friends and neighbors loved it.
The idea caught Rick Brooks’s attention. Brooks had experience in development and social marketing. He approached Bol about an idea to turn the little library into a social venture. The two teamed up and created a nonprofit. Today, the network of hyperlocal community libraries spans every continent.
As a Baltimore County Public Schools librarian for 25 years, Kaufman says some people were skeptical that anyone would use her Little Free Library when she created it in 2014. “They told me that people don’t read real books anymore. They read everything on their Kindle. I said, ‘Nope. Watch.’”
Kaufman was right—people came. Families, passersby … even the garbage and recycling truck drivers all grabbed and exchanged books.
Margret Aldrich, author of “The Little Free Library Book” (Coffee House Press, 2015), loves hearing stories from Little Free Library stewards like Kaufman. Aldrich herself was inspired to get involved in the movement because of its approach to creating book access and building community. Today, she works with the Little Free Library nonprofit in marketing and communications to help tell the story of the little book boxes that bring people together.
Aldrich says the most successful Little Free Libraries have a dedicated steward like Kaufman—someone who keeps an eye on the library and takes care of it—and a sense of community ownership. That’s something Cathy Brennan of Rodgers Forge has noticed too.
Brennan saw Little Free Libraries popping up when she lived in Charles Village. When she relocated to Rodgers Forge, she knew she wanted to bring one to her new neighborhood. She opened up her box of books before the COVID-19 pandemic began last year. Since that time, her box has turned into a local library and a place for community involvement.
“There’s a group of older women in the neighborhood who keep the library stocked,” Brennan explains. “I actually have to do very little management at this point. Occasionally, I do buy copies of something I want to share and put them in there. I find when I leave books on a topic, I get good feedback.”
Brennan says that the Little Free Library has fulfilled her desire to participate in her community and support reading, which, she says, is key to full participation in society.
Books That Build a Reading Community
Five years ago, when Krista Wallman first heard about Little Free Libraries, she knew it was exactly what her Arbutus neighborhood needed. She enlisted the help of her mom, who found an old bread box they thought would be perfect. Wallman put it on a post, filled it with books and waited for readers to arrive. “At first, we didn’t get much foot traffic,” Wallman says. “Ours was the first in town at the time, and I hadn’t officially registered it on the Little Free Library site yet.” She said that people seemed nervous to use it. They were afraid Wallman or her neighbors would think they were stealing. “I had people knock on my door to make sure they could take books. I told them, ‘Of course you can!’”
After Wallman explained the concept to people in the community, the library took off. Now, she sees regulars using it all the time. “On Wednesday morning, there’s a lady who swings by before work and picks up and drops off books. Families out on their evening walks come for a visit. We have a large community of Burmese families who were relocated here through refugee programs. They’re all learning how to read and speak English. They use our little library to pick up books to do that.”
Wallman says that seeing local kids borrow children’s books to help teach their parents English has further deepened her appreciation for the Little Free Library network. She also says that the library is a place for other kids in her community who have limited access to resources.
“Working at (her) school, I’ve seen that parents who don’t hold jobs are afraid to sign up for things. But with this library, they don’t have anything to sign and there are no late fees.”
Little Free Libraries Promote Learning Equity and Access for Adults and Children
Equity and access are areas that the Little Free Library nonprofit are trying to address on a national and community level.
For those who don’t have the resources to buy or build a library of their own, the nonprofit offers a free Library Impact Program. This year, the organization is introducing the Reading Color program designed to amplify Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) authors and LGBTQ authors.
“People should be able to see themselves in the pages in a book,” Aldrich explains, “and learn from experiences other than their own.”
Little Free Libraries were designed for learning, sharing, being a part of a community and bringing people together. These ambitions are especially true in the COVID-19 era.
Janelle Diamond of Ruxton says that books have long been her happy place. She’s borrowed from Little Free Libraries for years. Her family’s favorite one is in front of a doughnut bakery on Assateague Island. The family borrows from it while on vacation.
She’s placed a Little Free Library at the top of her birthday list this year and has a good feeling her family will deliver one.
“I love the idea of sharing words and stories, and that a book that I love will have a life beyond sitting in my house when I’m done with it,” she says. “It’s a connection in a year when there’s been so little connection. It feels like a way to give someone a hug without touching them.”
Learn how to create your own Little Free Library and find additional Little Free Library resources online.
