The Little Free Library, Part 1: A Wealth of Priceless Reading

Surely you've seen this phenomenon in a suburban neighborhood:

• A glass-fronted box on a post

• An odd assortment of books inside

• Somewhere on the structure, a small plaque proclaiming "Little Free Library"

There are lots of these in my neighborhood, each one a favorite place to visit when I’m out walking. How much do you know about them? I was curious, so I did some digging.

 Our Story Begins…

The first Little Free Library was created in 2009 by Todd Bol, a resident of Hudson, Wisconsin. It was an interactive art project inspired by his mother, who’d been a teacher. His little book-filled schoolhouse was such a hit with his neighbors that he built more of the boxes and gave them away.

With the help of Rick Brooks from University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Little Free Library grew from a community gift-share into a highly visible social enterprise. The book boxes started appearing beyond the city of Hudson in 2010 as Bol and Brooks sought to match the 2,508 public libraries once endowed by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. They hoped to reach that number by the end of 2013, but they were already there in the summer of 2012.

And the Little Free Library kept growing. There are now over 200,000 locations sharing 500,000,000 books in 128 countries.

You can open the door, take out a book, and keep it forever if you want. No library card is required, and there are no late fees. If you’re finished with a book, no matter where you got it, you can open the door and leave it in the Little Free Library for someone else to discover. Would Carnegie approve? Let’s find out.

Books for the Masses

In researching Andrew Carnegie, I learned a few things. I already knew this Scots-American philanthropist had endowed many American libraries (indeed, I frequented one of his original buildings as a child before it was torn down and replaced by a more modern facility). I'd always assumed that he was simply a Gilded Age robber baron who, late in life, chose to spend a fortune atoning for his capitalist sins. Not true. It seems that he felt a lifelong debt of honor to two philanthropists from his childhood in Scotland – Adam Rolland, who established the Dunfermline Free School where Carnegie received his primary education, and Colonel James Anderson, who encouraged the local working boys to read by giving them access to his private library. Early in Carnegie’s entrepreneurial career as an American steel magnate, he vowed to cap his annual personal income at $50,000 (the modern equivalent would be $9.25 billion) and give away the rest.

Carnegie drew his inspiration for an American public library system from the charitable works of railroad, financial, and shipbuilding magnate Enoch Pratt who, in 1882, endowed Baltimore with a massive free library on the condition of public funding for staffing and maintenance. Pratt, in turn, had been inspired by his Unitarian upbringing in Massachusetts, which taught him to reject the unforgiving doctrine of the Puritans that still influenced the world of his childhood.

To bring our origin story full circle, we have the idea of people bettering their lives and changing their future through self-paced learning. This idea entered the U.S. public sphere via Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth (the self-made rich using their abundant capital and influence for good works) and Pratt's model of private endowment and public partnership.

A Snapshot of the Little Free Library in Action

Here’s something I witnessed one morning in my neighborhood.

A homeless and possibly mentally ill woman approached a Little Free Library with cautious delight. I'd seen her in other parts of town, and everything about her demeanor suggested a good-natured soul doing her best to cope with an unkind world. Maybe it was the eyeglasses, which are said to convey intelligence and sincerity. Yes, it's easy to profile people based on appearances, and it’s just as easy to be wrong. But for our purposes here, let me share this snapshot of memory.

It's the time of weekday morning when most people with routines are rushing to work or school, and here comes this unfortunate woman with the rumpled look of someone who'd slept outdoors and was up with the dawn. She parks her laundry cart of bulging plastic bags next to the Little Free Library. She savors the moment of turning her head sideways to read the book titles. She carefully opens the wood-framed glass door and slides out a volume. She’s looking at the cover, reading the table of contents, absorbing the publisher’s pull quotes from reviewers and fellow authors.

She studiously ignores me as I walk past. She's seeking just the right book to help her pass the daylight hours in an unkind world, something that will let her experience another person's reality for a while. Far be it from me to distract her from this critical task. The Little Free Library is working its magic right before my eyes.

New Reading Adventures at Your Fingertips

Every Little Free Library is different. Whether it’s an expression of wildly inventive micro-architecture, a customized adaptation of the kit that you can order online, or even just a basic box with an amusing coat of paint, your miniature local library is a destination unlike any other. It’s a sidewalk public amenity in front of a house that cares. Somehow the light falls on it a little differently, a photo op waiting to happen. And of course, no two Little Free Libraries will ever have the same selection. Depending on passersby, the selection may change from day to day. And while not everyone is a reader and not every reader favors print books, the enduring value of this old-school medium is always on display.

I’ve discovered hours of unexpected entertainment and enrichment thanks to the many creatively decorated book boxes in my neighborhood. And if you haven’t already had the pleasure, you certainly should.