Little Free Library

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, US. Little Free Libraries are also referred to as community book exchanges, neighborhood book exchanges, book trading posts, pop-up libraries, and micro-libraries,^[3] and have been likened to human bird feeders.^[4]

History

Little Free Library in Oosthuizen, Netherlands

The first Little Free Library in Hudson, Wisconsin

The idea was popularized in Hudson, Wisconsin, in 2009 when Todd Bol 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. 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". They often have the phrase, "Take a Book. Leave a Book."^[5][6] The Little Free Library Index^[7] lists locations with GPS coordinates and information.

The original goal was the creation of 2,150 Little Libraries, which would surpass the number of libraries founded by Andrew Carnegie. As of January 2014, there are over 15,000 Little Libraries worldwide. As of February 2013, all 50 U.S. states and 40 countries worldwide have been involved in the program.^[8] An estimated 1,650,000 books were donated and borrowed from 2010 to 2013.^[9]

Libraries have been donated to rural areas that have no libraries of their own or that have been affected by disasters. Libraries often incorporate materials from the community.^[10]

Libraries of all shapes and sizes exist, from smaller collections in brightly painted wooden houses to a library based on Doctor Who's TARDIS.^[11]

Censure

In late 2012, the village of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, denied permission to potential Little Free Library projects and required that an existing Little Free Library be removed because of a village ordinance that prohibited structures in front yards. Village trustees also worried about inappropriate material being placed in the boxes.^[12] However, in August 2013, the village approved a new ordinance that specifically allowed Little Free Library boxes to be put up on private property.^[13]

In June 2014, city officials in Leawood, Kansas shut down a Little Free Library under a city ordinance prohibiting detached structures.^[14] The family of the nine-year-old boy who built the structure created a Facebook page to support the amendment of Leawood's city code.^[15] Another resident of the city who erected a Little Free Library was threatened with a $25 fine.^[16] In July, the city council unanimously approved a temporary moratorium to permit Little Free Libraries on private property.^[17]

In September 2014, the town of Spider Lake, Wisconsin effectively banned Little Free Libraries on private property by requiring a “conditional use permit” and a fee of $375. In October 2014 the town sent the homeowner a notice of violation and ordered homeowners to remove the LFL or face legal sanctions.^[18]

On January 29, 2015, the Metropolitan Planning Commission in Shreveport, Louisiana shut down a Little Free Library. Zoning administrator Alan Clarke said that city ordinances only permitted libraries in commercial zones and that of the all Little Free Libraries in Shreveport, the one that was shut down had “bothered someone.”^[19] The following month, the city council temporarily legalized book exchange boxes until the zoning ordinances could be amended to permanently allow them.^[20]

See also

• Public bookcase

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Little Free Library.

• Official website
• Little Free Library Map of the World