Little Free Libraries

Has anyone seen the above type of structures around the place? 

They are part of a world wide movement known as Little Free Library, here are some factlets: 

• The aim is to inspire a love of reading, build community, and spark creativity by fostering neighborhood book exchanges around the world. 

• The first Little Free Library. in Wisconsin USA, was built in 2009 byTodd Bol. He mounted a wooden container designed to look like a one-room schoolhouse on a post on his lawn and filled it with books as a tribute to his mother, who was a book lover and school teacher and had recently died. He and partner, Rick Brooks built more of them in different areas of the Midwestern United States with a goal of establishing 2,510 libraries in order to exceed the number of Carnegie Libraries. After a while, the idea started to spread. 

• As at August 2018 the number of Little Free Libraries has expanded to include more than 75,000 libraries in 88 countries around the world. 

• As with other public book exchanges, passersby can take a book to read or leave one for someone else to find. The organisation relies on volunteer "stewards" to construct, install, and maintain book exchange boxes. For a book exchange box to be registered, and legally use the Little Free Library brand name, stewards must purchase a finished book exchange, a kit or, for a DIY project, a charter sign, which contains the "Little Free Library" text and official charter number. 

• Little Free Libraries of all shapes and sizes exist, from small, brightly painted wooden houses to a larger library based on Doctor Who's TARDIS. 

• The movement is based on the faith that people will not vandalise, steal, or destroy the hand-crafted public libraries and that the willingness of people to give up their favourite reads, trusting that others will connect with them in the same way. 

• If you want to find the Little Free Libraries that are near you, there is a world wide map that lets you click on the locations. This is the link: 

https://littlefreelibrary.org/ourmap

• The Australian map is at: 

https://streetlibrary.org.au/find/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxOyqn4Wv4AIV1worCh0SDgYrEAAYASABEgKVT_D_BwE

Gallery: 

The LFL closest to my home, as shown on the interactive Australia map. 

A TARDIS, some foxes and telephone boxes. 

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Special Mention: 

Sharalee Armitage Howard, a librarian at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library in Idaho, had an aging cottonwood tree in front of her house that needed to be cut down when it began to rot. She turned the stump into a Little Free Library that is magic and has come to be called the Little Tree Library. It includes stone steps, a glass door, warm interior and exterior lighting that provides a welcoming glow. Even in the small details, the project maintains its literary purpose. Just above the doorway, dentils in the form of miniature books recall some of the great classics like Call of the Wild and The Grapes of Wrath. 

Some pics . . .

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