Maybe you've seen a tiny library outside your local hardware store, or across the street from a school. If you love to read, chances are good these small, glass-front boxes stocked with free books piqued your curiosity. They're part of the Little Free Library, and there's a wonderful story (and organization) behind them.
Todd Bol of Hudson, Wisconsin, built the first one in 2009, a mini replica of a red schoolhouse in honor of his mom, a former teacher and unabashed bookworm. Friends and neighbors were soon stopping by to get their fiction fix, so Tom built more and gifted them to likeminded folks. Not long after, the project really took off when a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor saw the book boxes as an opportunity to create widespread social good.
Inspired by Andrew Carnegie's famous support of public libraries and borrowing from the "take a book, leave a book" model commonly found in coffee shops and hotels, the partners established a mission: to promote literacy and the love of reading through free book exchanges worldwide. Their goal at the time? To build 2,510 Little Free Libraries (as many as Andrew Carnegie funded!), which they've happily reached and are exceeding.
With over 400 in the U.S. alone, and oodles more in countries as far away as Australia, France, Mexico, and China, these birdhouse-sized bastions of literary freedom are seemingly everywhere.
Check out some of our favorites from around North America:
Santa Barbara, CA
To find a library near you or get started building your own, check out littlefreelibrary.org