A Little Free Library in College Park

The other day, I got a call from a neighbor about something very interesting – a little free” library in north College Park. Later I made a visit to this little library with my son and guess what, he borrowed one that he is now reading in his summer school break.

The library is called “little”, because unlike the traditional libraries, where we go and pick books after browsing thousands, this library holds only a handful – in an enclosure that has a size little more than that of our typical mailboxes in front of our houses.

The concept is very simple. It’s a “take a book, return a book” gathering place where neighbors share their favorite literature and stories. In its most basic form, a Little Free Library is a box full of books where anyone may stop by and pick up a book (or two) and bring back another book to share.

The concept of having the little free library is not quite quite new. It all started back in 2009, when Todd Bol of Hudson, Wisconsin, built a model of a one room schoolhouse as a tribute to his mother, a former school teacher who loved reading. He filled it with books and put it on a post in his front yard. His neighbors and friends loved it. He built several more and gave them away. Each one had a sign that said FREE BOOKS.

The concept later turned into a kind of movement, which is now being adopted by many, not only in the USA, but other parts of the world as well. You can now order a “little library” online from the website http://littlefreelibrary.org/

I think it’s nifty idea that some of us can use. All of us have a few collection of good books that often gather dusts on our bookshelf after we finish reading them. I ask why don’t we share them with our neighbors through our own little libraries.