Last year, I had a “Little Free Library” installed near the side door of the Tribune office. Inspired by a feature story in our paper, I purchased the kit to make the library, and a couple of lovely young men in town built and installed it for me. They even included a couple of books to get us started. My staff and I brought in books from home that we were done with, and stuffed the library full.
I was ridiculously excited about our little library, and checked it every day to see what books had been taken. At first, there didn’t seem to be any action at all, but after a few weeks, people discovered the library. Books that I was sure would be gone in an instant, instead sat on the shelves for weeks or even longer. Some that I thought nobody would want were snatched up instantly. I had so much fun watching the shelves to see what was claimed.
And okay, I admit it... I’m a book hoarder. To be honest, I have more books at home than I can count. Certainly, more than I’ll ever read. I’m a sucker for a great review, and can’t resist buying books that sound intriguing. For years, I read mostly biographies. Then I moved on to nonfiction, often medical related stories or books about cults. These days I read lighter fare – literary fiction, beach reads, and such.
I found I was glad to have so many books at home, because once our Little Free Library caught on, it needed frequent refilling. I went through bookshelf after bookshelf in my house, pulling out books I’d already read, books that had looked interesting when I bought them but had sat unread for years, even books my kids left home when they grew up and moved out.
I wondered what people might think of the eclectic mix of books in our Little Free Library, but even the oddest of books seemed to find new homes – maybe it’s a case of there truly being something for everyone!
As my supply of expendable books at home started to dwindle, I began looking for new sources of reading material. A few times I’ve found people on Facebook giving away boxes of books, and we’ve used those to fill the shelves of our library. All of my friends and family now know to pass their used books my way, where they’re promptly put out for people to take.
But even more exciting for me than getting and filling the library, was my discovery that the library had started to become a drop off point for local readers! One day, I left work and the library was about half empty, and the next day when I got to work, it was overstuffed! Neither myself nor my co-workers had filled it, so that meant that someone else had! Now, it’s become a regular occurance to see books on the library shelves that are foreign to me. Currently, we have a nice batch of young reader books that someone put in there, as well as some murder mysteries.
When we here at the office have spare books, we’ve even been known to head out and fill up other Little Free Libraries in town... a full library is much more satisfying than one with just a book or two in it!
So, if you come to the Tribune, take a look in our Little Free Library, just outside the office’s side door. Grab a book or two, and enjoy! And if you’re one of those people anonymously filling our library, thank you! If you come to drop off books and the library is full, feel free to bring the books inside and we’ll be happy to use them once there’s space on the shelves.
Happy reading, Livingston!
