SUNDAY CHAT #4 - Little Free Libraries - Need a Book Take a Book!

SUNDAY CHAT
FOUR

LITTLE FREE LIBRARIES

Need a Book, Take a Book!

Hello, lovely library lions and beautiful book dragons! During the holidays I mentioned I had found out some parents who are struggling financially search Little Free Libraries to find new, or new looking books to give their children at Christmastime. I thought this was wonderful, but some others, who have only experienced private LFLs, found it confusing because the motto of the Little Free Library Organization is, "Take a book, leave a book." Over the past couple of years, more community LFLs have been springing up at public schools and parks, and community centers. Our city parks and recreation department even has a mobile LFL they take to public events. With these publicly owned LFLs the motto is more like, "Need a book, take a book."

MACARTHUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LFL

 Last time I checked we had Little Free Libraries at two of our elementary schools, my neighborhood's community center, my neighborhood's urban garden, and at five public neighborhood parks across the city. The libraries at the neighborhood parks are all owned and maintained by our parks and recreation department. We can even drop books off at one of the local senior citizen centers and they distribute them to the park LFLs. 

THOMAS JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

I feel publicly owned and maintained "need a book, have a book" Little Free Libraries are invaluable because there are many children whose folks don't buy books or frequent the public library, and if there are easy access locations with no return restrictions, or need to "leave a book", children will be more likely to book graze and find stories they really love which will keep them reading. I smile big when I think about future book dragons out there somewhere, starting their own small personal library of favorite titles in their bedroom, with books gleaned from a public LFL.

I know of only two privately owned LFLs in my city and they are both in rich predominantly white neighborhoods where not only would children in need not be walking past, but if they were they would be looked at suspiciously and it would definitely be frowned upon to not leave a book or bring the book back. In fact, one of the ladies is more than a bit stuck up. When she is on the local LFL Facebook page she acts like her little library is the only one in town. I'm relatively sure she is the type who would be running outside shooing away any children not dressed to her standards, or... heaven forbid, of a darker skin color. She's always posting photos of herself and her library box, with a row of perfectly dressed and coiffed milky white kids posed in front of her.

MY NEIGHBORHOOD COMMUNITY GARDEN

They took the sides of the community garden library to a summer event at our community center and had the kiddos paint them, so they would feel like it was theirs.

THE COMMUNITY CENTER'S LITTLE LIBRARY
The above two LFLs in my neighborhood are the ones I fill. I also sometimes drop books off at the senior center so some of them get distributed to the public parks. Where do my books come from? I buy children's books at the public library's book sales, I order extra children's books every time I make a Book Outlet order (you can get MG and picture books for a dollar or less) and I try to remember to do this with my Better World Books orders, too. I also enter Goodreads and publishers' giveaways for kids books, and encourage children's authors to send me physical copies of review books.

SUNFLOWER PARK LIBRARY

THE LITTLE FREE LIBRARY ORGANIZATION
If I had a LFL mine would also say... love a book, keep a book.

Do you have any public Little Free Libraries near you?
Have you considered helping to fill them?