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A few years ago, I started seeing little birdhouse-like structures popping up in front lawns around Denver. When I looked closer, though, I realized that these structures held books rather than stoops for birds. Adorned with signs that read \u201cLittle Free Library: Take a Book, Return a Book,\u201d I was intrigued and wanted to learn more about this movement of community libraries.<\/p>\n
It all started back in 2009 when a gentleman in Wisconsin put up a little library as a tribute to his late mother, who was a teacher and book lover. The idea quickly spread, and Todd Bol soon founded Little Free Library<\/a> as a non-profit organization. The goal was to share the love of books as far and wide as possible, and boy has the organization done that: there are over 32,000 little free libraries worldwide as of this writing.<\/p>\n As a fellow book lover myself, I wanted in on the movement. My lovely wife bought me a library as a gift (you can buy pre-constructed libraries on their website<\/a>), and I was able to get it up in our yard over Labor Day weekend this fall. After a few months in operation, I can happily say that it\u2019s been an even bigger success than I imagined.<\/p>\n The little library functions as basically just a neighborhood book exchange. The idea is that someone will take a book that piques their interest, and sometime in the future return either that book, or a totally different one. On a weekly basis, there are dozens of books turned over in my library, and the benefits both to my own life, and to the community at large, have been numerous:<\/p>\n As hard as it may be to believe, especially for readers of an internet blog, 14% of the US adult population can\u2019t read. That\u2019s over 30 million people<\/em>. If that\u2019s not sobering, I don\u2019t know what is. Of adults who are literate, 20% aren\u2019t reading above a 5th grade level. And even for those who can read well, it doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re actually doing so. Our culture of online listicles (which, thankfully, is slowly changing) produces readers who only have the attention span to read short snippets of articles, and who seem to proudly ignore anything meaty or lengthy in nature. If this is true of online reading, how much truer does it ring when it comes to books?<\/p>\n Beyond just the enjoyment and fulfillment one often gets from reading, in many ways, the ability to read is one of the bedrocks of being a functional and successful adult in this world<\/a>. Reading teaches discipline, empathy<\/a>, history (and what we can learn from it<\/a>), etc. The benefits are in indeed too numerous to list in full.<\/p>\n Now, having a little library in my yard certainly isn\u2019t teaching folks to read outright, but my hope is that it promotes the idea that literacy is crucially important. Perhaps someone who hasn\u2019t read a book in a decade will pick one up. Perhaps a young adult will grab a book a grade or two above their current reading level, and push themselves to learn and grow in their own literacy. Perhaps a parent or grandparent who can\u2019t afford a book for their (grand)child will take one and be able to pass on the joy of reading to the next generation.<\/p>\n Books are treasures, and by putting a library in my front yard, I\u2019m conveying that idea to my neighborhood, and to all the people who come by our busy corner. It\u2019s an easy and risk-free way for someone to get into a book — there are no library cards to deal with, no endless rows of books to browse and be intimidated by, no guilt in not returning something on time. It\u2019s as simple as it gets when it comes to promoting literacy at the most local level possible.<\/p>\n In a society of increasing isolation, getting to know your neighbors<\/a> is a throwback to another era. Today, kids are kept inside for safety fears, and adults rarely see each other outside of shoveling the walk or grabbing the newspaper. Neighborhood cookouts are a rarity, and rather than grabbing a cup of sugar from next door, we just make a quick jaunt to the store.<\/p>\n The reality is that our neighborhood can be so much more than just the place we live. It can be the community that everyone desperately needs in their life. In the words of Marcus Brotherton<\/a>: \u201cWhen it comes to where he lives, an immature man tends to see his neighborhood only as a place to hang his hat. But a mature man sees his neighborhood as a place he helps create.\u201d<\/p>\n You can help create the neighborhood you want to live in — that you want your children to grow up in — by installing a little free library. You\u2019re promoting not only literacy, but friendliness, general well-being, community identity, etc.<\/p>\n What\u2019s nice about the little library is that it\u2019s actually a pretty passive way to build community. While you can certainly organize BBQs, block parties, and other neighborly events, with a library, you build it and install it just once, and from there you don\u2019t do a whole lot other than general upkeep. If you\u2019re like me, though, and regularly checking on the titles housed within, and ensuring the library is maintained well, you\u2019re bound to get to know its patrons better.<\/p>\n There are plenty of men out there who only read non-fiction, or who only read a specific genre of fiction like Tom Clancy thrillers or John Grisham legal dramas. Part of being a well-rounded man, though, is having knowledge in a wide array of disciplines. In a society of very specific niches in careers and interests, the man who can make connections between various seemingly unrelated subjects is the one who will be most successful and sought after.<\/p>\n Having a little library allows your own reading horizons to expand exponentially. In my own library are books about real estate, self-help-type memoirs, a nutrition textbook, some Shakespeare, lifestyle magazines, and plenty of fiction from a wide variety of genres. Many of them are books (and periodicals) I\u2019d never dive into of my own accord. But by just picking up a couple to browse through, I\u2019ve certainly built upon my general library of knowledge and contributed to adding mental models to my toolbox (which is crucial when processing through an OODA Loop<\/a>).<\/p>\n Rather than building a library of books that you\u2019ve entirely chosen, there\u2019s something freeing about reading works that others have \u201cselected\u201d for me. I\u2019m enjoying books I never thought I\u2019d enjoy, and encountering unique authors and topics which never would have caught my eye in a bookstore or library. By limiting yourself to reading from a selection of just 10-15 books that a diverse group of other people has placed, you\u2019re actually opening up your literary world to far more than would be possible otherwise.<\/p>\n The ability to talk with strangers<\/a> is a skill that every man should work on. It improves your general social skills, yes, but also just makes you happier<\/a>. What better way to commune with strangers than over books? Most days I\u2019ll go out and check out my library: which books have been taken, which are new additions, what might I like to grab for myself? Since we have a city bus stop in front of our house, chances are good that someone will be there on the bench or standing and waiting for their transport.<\/p>\n Whether I start up a conversation or they do, more often than not there\u2019s some small talk happening when I go out to the library. They ask if I was the one who put it up, if they have to return the book they take (they don\u2019t — I just encourage them to return a book, any book, sometime in the future), where I got the idea from, and more. In many ways it makes small talk easier; there\u2019s a very clear topic of conversation to focus on to get things going, and if the conversation turns elsewhere naturally, great. If not, I\u2019ve just had some pleasant small talk with a stranger who has hopefully benefitted from my library. And as a bonus, I\u2019ve evangelized the Little Free Library movement.<\/p>\n I live in the heart of Denver. Within just a few miles of me, there are dozens more little libraries in folks\u2019 front yards, sharing the joy of reading with any who wander by. Sure, the above benefits come into play, but what it comes down to most of all, especially for me, is the sheer desire to spread my love of books and of reading to my community. I want to live in a world where books, and the knowledge that comes with them, are highly valued. And the way to do that, in my corner of the world, is to be generous and cultivate a diverse library that can be enjoyed by neighbors and bus-goers alike.<\/p>\n Generosity is at the heart of this season, and at the heart of what a little library brings to your neighborhood. Ultimately, it\u2019s about giving back to the community, and doing some good for the people who walk and drive by your house every day. I\u2019ve even received notes of gratitude, which reinforce the benefits to my library\u2019s patrons. Take this note, from a gentleman named Esteban, who was especially thankful to have a \u201ccompanion\u201d on a cold night at the busstop: \u201cThank you for this wonderful gift of a book. It\u2019s an excellent companion on this cold and lonely night. I\u2019ll return one in its place as soon as I can!\u201d<\/p>\n If each block were to have a library, would we soon have a society that spends less time on their smartphones and more in the pages of a book? We won\u2019t know unless we try, so get out there and build a library for your community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A few years ago, I started seeing little birdhouse-like structures popping up in front lawns around Denver. When I looked closer, though, I realized that these structures held books rather than stoops for birds. Adorned with signs that read \u201cLittle Free Library: Take a Book, Return a Book,\u201d I was intrigued and wanted to learn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":53099,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42275,6,42273],"tags":[42256],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-53056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-featured","category-living","tag-books"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Screen-Shot-2015-12-17-at-8.58.35-AM-e1450367653198-1-538x280.png","reactor-320":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Screen-Shot-2015-12-17-at-8.58.35-AM-e1450367653198-1-320x309.png","rpwe-thumbnail":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Screen-Shot-2015-12-17-at-8.58.35-AM-e1450367653198-1-45x45.png"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53056"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53056\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":140032,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53056\/revisions\/140032"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53056"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=53056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} 1. Promotes Literacy<\/h3>\n
2. Promotes General Neighborliness<\/h3>\n
3. Expands Your Own Literary Horizons<\/h3>\n
4. Allows You To Talk With Strangers<\/h3>\n
5. Cultivates Your Spirit of Generosity<\/h3>\n