Most of us have seen Little Free Libraries (LFLs) in our peregrinations; yet we pass them by with only a querulous gaze. A recent obituary in the NY Times brought them to my attention. LFLs are literally a "shot heard round the world."
See NY Times Obituary.
"It started as a spiritual gesture,," he said. In 2009, Todd Bol was renovating his garage in Wisconsin when he ripped off its old wooden door. He liked the wood, though, and didn’t want to throw it out. So after staring at it for a while, he decided to use it to build a small monument to his mother, who had been a schoolteacher.
He fashioned it into a replica of a schoolhouse, two feet high and two feet wide, put his mother’s books in it, and planted it on his front yard, hoping to start a little book exchange for his neighbors.
Since then more than 75,000 Little Free Library boxes, have popped up in all 50 states and in 88 countries.
See LittleFreeLibrary website.
Here, is a photo-essay of some of the little libraries near Todd Bol's hometown.