Handmade Gateways to Magic
Little Free Library’s story sharing mission
Text by Nancy S. Moseley Chances are you’ve probably seen one, because … they’re everywhere: a random neighborhood street corner, a shelf at your local coffee shop, a box at your favorite park, a basket at the nearby elementary school. Spotting one might even feel like a serendipitous discovery, not unlike catching a glimpse of a fabled creature, like Big Foot. Stephen King once said: “Books are a uniquely portable magic,” and Little Free Libraries, in their subtle yet tenacious way, are portals to that magic. Headquartered in Hudson, Wisconsin (30 minutes east of Minneapolis), Little Free Libraries is an 38
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international nonprofit organization that cultivates unfettered access to millions of books through a “take a book, return a book” exchange program. It started in 2009 when Todd Bol built a model of a one-room schoolhouse, filled it with books and put it on a post in his front yard. It was a tribute to his mother, an educator who loved to read. The gesture was beloved by Bol’s neighbors and friends, several of whom requested a schoolhouse of their own. Bol eventually collaborated with Rick Brooks, a social entrepreneur who was an outreach program manager at the
University of Wisconsin. The two launched the official Little Free Libraries movement in 2012 and now there are more than 65,000 registered libraries in 84 countries and in all 50 states. “We’re working to inspire a love of reading, build community and spark creativity by fostering neighborhood book-sharing boxes around the world,” says Margret Aldrich, the marketing and communications representative for Little Free Libraries. That’s precisely the beauty of the crusade; it’s a big idea that’s executed on an intimate, local level. Salena Sullivan of
Mar/Apr 2018