LFL
March 11, 2025 8:00 PM Subscribe
I'm thinking about putting a Little Free Library out on the street. Why would I not want to do this?
Would your town or HOA have any problems with this?
posted by Marky at 8:41 PM on March 11 [2 favorites]
posted by Marky at 8:41 PM on March 11 [2 favorites]
The only reason not to is if you live in a neighborhood governed by a neighborhood association that would not approve its installation, or would have/want control over where it is, how it looks, what it contains, etc. But if you're not bound by any such covenant, just put one up, seed it, and let the neighborhood start to enjoy it!
posted by pdb at 9:03 PM on March 11 [1 favorite]
posted by pdb at 9:03 PM on March 11 [1 favorite]
offering a free neighborhood book exchange is a lovely thing to do. however…i hate that these are branded little free libraries. first of all, using a public library is already free. second, libraries offer more than just a random collection of books; yes, there’s some overlap in supply provision, but it’s not the same thing. the branding of these book exchanges undermines the concept of public libraries in society by pretending this is something people need to self organize (see again, free libraries already exist); it diminishes the value of the already existant libraries with a marketing campaign that suggests this is a gap in society that needs to be filled by benevolent individuals (as opposed to organized through government as a service). as someone who lives in a country where healthcare is also publicly funded, i find this analogous to putting out a box of bandages by the end of your driveway and calling it “little free hospital”. /hot-take.
this isn’t a why-not-to, but perhaps some food for thought as you undertake this generous and kind hearted initiative.
posted by tamarack at 9:36 PM on March 11 [43 favorites]
this isn’t a why-not-to, but perhaps some food for thought as you undertake this generous and kind hearted initiative.
posted by tamarack at 9:36 PM on March 11 [43 favorites]
+1 to aws17576, those are some excellent considerations.
That said, I live in a town crazy with LFLs--I kid you not, you can't go three blocks without coming upon one--and they are so great! Because of the density (I'm guessing), there are specialty boxes. There's a spirituality-themed one, a natural science one, and others with art books, self help, poetry, a children's theme. Some have an adjacent bench, and very often a dog water bowl. Unrelated to LFLs, there are also some take-one-leave-one little art exchanges too, oh and one with nonperishable food.
I've never seen one vandalized or empty, but again: small town. I have seen a couple that look neglected, but that's rare.
posted by AnOrigamiLife at 9:38 PM on March 11 [3 favorites]
That said, I live in a town crazy with LFLs--I kid you not, you can't go three blocks without coming upon one--and they are so great! Because of the density (I'm guessing), there are specialty boxes. There's a spirituality-themed one, a natural science one, and others with art books, self help, poetry, a children's theme. Some have an adjacent bench, and very often a dog water bowl. Unrelated to LFLs, there are also some take-one-leave-one little art exchanges too, oh and one with nonperishable food.
I've never seen one vandalized or empty, but again: small town. I have seen a couple that look neglected, but that's rare.
posted by AnOrigamiLife at 9:38 PM on March 11 [3 favorites]
We have one, but it's not an official LFL because I didn't want to pay the fee. We made ours out of an old crate, lying on its side, and yep, someone stole the entire thing (crate and all) about a month after we first put it up. So we got another crate and my husband spent about 5 minutes chaining it to a bolt in our wall, and it's never been stolen since.
I absolutely love ours. We hear so much positive feedback from neighbors about it. We put the first few books in there years ago and since then it's just basically run on its own. Sometimes people put other stuff in there (like clothing) and we usually just dispose of it. We don't fuss too much if folks put other library-type items in it, like DVDs. It'll get super messy, like a big jumble, and then I'll come home one day and notice someone just cleaned it all up. That happens regularly. No idea who it is, but how nice that it happens. Occasionally someone will drop off several boxes of books -- way too much to fit inside -- so we'll shove the boxes into our garage and then dole them out into the LFL as space opens up. There have definitely been "nice" or valuable books -- like a ton of very fancy coffee table type books. Who knows who takes them? If they're keeping them or selling them or whatever, it's all fine.
Sometimes there are books that just won't move, like a set of Russian books. I eventually trashed them. Just being honest here. I also trashed some right-wing nonsense books. Hey, I'm the librarian and I removed these items from circulation.
We really did the minimum amount of work -- it's a crate, lying on its side, with a plywood "roof" over the top. No front doors. So when it rains we cover the entire thing with a giant bag and then uncover it when it stops raining. Sure, I'd like a fancy LFL with doors but Mr. Blah doesn't want to construct one and I don't want to pay for one so crate it is. (We live in LA, so YMMV.)
Do it. I'm so glad we did.
posted by BlahLaLa at 9:59 PM on March 11 [14 favorites]
I absolutely love ours. We hear so much positive feedback from neighbors about it. We put the first few books in there years ago and since then it's just basically run on its own. Sometimes people put other stuff in there (like clothing) and we usually just dispose of it. We don't fuss too much if folks put other library-type items in it, like DVDs. It'll get super messy, like a big jumble, and then I'll come home one day and notice someone just cleaned it all up. That happens regularly. No idea who it is, but how nice that it happens. Occasionally someone will drop off several boxes of books -- way too much to fit inside -- so we'll shove the boxes into our garage and then dole them out into the LFL as space opens up. There have definitely been "nice" or valuable books -- like a ton of very fancy coffee table type books. Who knows who takes them? If they're keeping them or selling them or whatever, it's all fine.
Sometimes there are books that just won't move, like a set of Russian books. I eventually trashed them. Just being honest here. I also trashed some right-wing nonsense books. Hey, I'm the librarian and I removed these items from circulation.
We really did the minimum amount of work -- it's a crate, lying on its side, with a plywood "roof" over the top. No front doors. So when it rains we cover the entire thing with a giant bag and then uncover it when it stops raining. Sure, I'd like a fancy LFL with doors but Mr. Blah doesn't want to construct one and I don't want to pay for one so crate it is. (We live in LA, so YMMV.)
Do it. I'm so glad we did.
posted by BlahLaLa at 9:59 PM on March 11 [14 favorites]
Spiders and caterpillars.
I think you should risk it.
posted by Toddles at 10:28 PM on March 11 [2 favorites]
I think you should risk it.
posted by Toddles at 10:28 PM on March 11 [2 favorites]
Definitely do it! My mom put one in a few years ago outside her house and she's really enjoyed having it.
One thing to keep in mind — in order for the LFL to stay nice, it does require a minimal amount of maintenance. Once every week or so you'll want to remove any junk, trash, or obvious promo materials, and organize the remaining books. If the LFL is too full, you'll have to remove some books to keep or donate elsewhere. Once every month or two you'll probably want to sweep out the dirt and check if any physical maintenance is needed (tightening screws, fixing leaks, etc). Very easy, but important if you want to keep your LFL nice and inviting for the community!
posted by mekily at 10:39 PM on March 11 [5 favorites]
One thing to keep in mind — in order for the LFL to stay nice, it does require a minimal amount of maintenance. Once every week or so you'll want to remove any junk, trash, or obvious promo materials, and organize the remaining books. If the LFL is too full, you'll have to remove some books to keep or donate elsewhere. Once every month or two you'll probably want to sweep out the dirt and check if any physical maintenance is needed (tightening screws, fixing leaks, etc). Very easy, but important if you want to keep your LFL nice and inviting for the community!
posted by mekily at 10:39 PM on March 11 [5 favorites]
Because a Free Little Art Gallery (FLAG) ends up tickling your fancy more? There’s no reason you couldn’t have both, even though I haven’t seen that setup yet.
posted by concinnity at 4:17 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
posted by concinnity at 4:17 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
One thing to consider is to encourage people (via a sign and/or word of mouth) to drop off quantities of books somewhere like a porch or at the side of your house, rather than trying to shove them directly in the enclosure. Then you can keep a backlog and curate the supply a bit so it’s neither empty nor overflowing.
posted by staggernation at 4:33 AM on March 12
posted by staggernation at 4:33 AM on March 12
You're gonna have to pay daily attention to what shows up in it, since there are some goofballs (even right here on Metafilter!) who think any old thing is okay to share. (One of the rare times I flag something for deletion here, I'm still not over it.)
posted by phunniemee at 4:34 AM on March 12 [6 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 4:34 AM on March 12 [6 favorites]
I run a take a plant/leave a plant stand. Unlike lfl, it's something we don't generally already have public services for (ie everything tamarack rightly brings up).
Maybe that's not right for you, but one reason not to do lfl is bc you can do something similar but better at filling a gap and more interesting.
Other things you can swap ina small hutch: arts and crafts, sticks for dogs, toys and games, small tools, etc
posted by SaltySalticid at 4:58 AM on March 12 [6 favorites]
Maybe that's not right for you, but one reason not to do lfl is bc you can do something similar but better at filling a gap and more interesting.
Other things you can swap ina small hutch: arts and crafts, sticks for dogs, toys and games, small tools, etc
posted by SaltySalticid at 4:58 AM on March 12 [6 favorites]
I'm going to push back on tamarack, if I may get 'splainy, public libraries are not free, they are publicly funded, and in fact there are plenty that will not grant you full usage privileges unless you can prove you are either part of the tax base or pay a fee.
That said, LFLs do need some physical upkeep, and generally at least a modicum of curation. There's one in my neighborhood, and it seems to have stretches of neglect. If you're not willing/able to keep an eye on it, maybe it's a good idea to pass on the opportunity.
posted by 2N2222 at 5:01 AM on March 12 [3 favorites]
That said, LFLs do need some physical upkeep, and generally at least a modicum of curation. There's one in my neighborhood, and it seems to have stretches of neglect. If you're not willing/able to keep an eye on it, maybe it's a good idea to pass on the opportunity.
posted by 2N2222 at 5:01 AM on March 12 [3 favorites]
Will you be able to keep it filled? Do you have ongoing access to okay quality books (both in terms of content and physical condition)? What will you do if someone keeps clearing out everything in it?
posted by carrioncomfort at 5:10 AM on March 12
posted by carrioncomfort at 5:10 AM on March 12
(If you want to go all "well akshully" on the meaning of "Free" with respect to libraries, it doesn't mean "free" as in beer, i.e. no cost. It means "free" as in "freedom", i.e. the books are free to circulate and there is freedom of access. See e.g. The Free Library Movement. Prior to that most libraries were private and not freely accessible. Also there were chained libraries, which were certainly not free. My public library has "Free" right in it's official title. Also idk when any of you have last been to a nice large public library but mine has tons of under-housed people reading books and using computers - the obstacles to access are not high. I still think it's worth considering that the LFL craze is not all puppies and ice cream.)
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:10 AM on March 12 [20 favorites]
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:10 AM on March 12 [20 favorites]
Seconding that the only reason you might not want to do it is because you want to host a non-book version. In my neighborhood there is a Little Free Fiber Library full of yarn and knitting notions. It is one of my favorite things1
(Regarding the use of the word "free": in Philadelphia, our public library system is called The Free Library of Philadelphia, chartered in 1891 as "a general library which shall be free to all.")
posted by mcduff at 6:32 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
(Regarding the use of the word "free": in Philadelphia, our public library system is called The Free Library of Philadelphia, chartered in 1891 as "a general library which shall be free to all.")
posted by mcduff at 6:32 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
Because a Free Little Art Gallery (FLAG) ends up tickling your fancy more? There’s no reason you couldn’t have both, even though I haven’t seen that setup yet.
There is at least one in the world and Shepherd made it! He is doing a pitch to have someone help him create a standard blueprint to share for free with other art lovers who might want to do the same thing.
posted by Kitteh at 6:51 AM on March 12 [6 favorites]
There is at least one in the world and Shepherd made it! He is doing a pitch to have someone help him create a standard blueprint to share for free with other art lovers who might want to do the same thing.
posted by Kitteh at 6:51 AM on March 12 [6 favorites]
Some other tidbits from people who run them and what I've observed:
Many operators end up not having a problem with keeping it stocked, but rather mountains of books that nobody takes. It depends of course on your neighborhood and context. LFL's work best in areas with a lot of foot traffic and ideally with plenty of kids and teens around. Most adults have read that Dan Brown thriller or 90's self-help book if they wanted to, but younger people and their books cycle more easily. If you don't have much foot traffic at all, be prepared for potential disappointment in very low use.
Be prepared to get nazi or kkk content, scientology pamphlets, chick tracts and any other weird/creepy org trying to use your LFL to further their agenda.
Be prepared to build it right. I think the official org has construction plans, but I also know people who have struggled with leaks and weathering.
If you do install one, I recommend having a policies in place on how to handle this stuff so that you don't have to make awkward decisions in the moment. Some to consider:
* check it at least daily for over/under fullness, and objectionable content.
*always keep some space in the LFL so that donations can be accepted. This means you need additional space in your house to handle overflow.
*set a time limit on how long books can stay.
* decide what you'll do with overflow books if/when you accumulate too many. I recommend donating to a public library book sale (check, many do have these)
* decide on what you'll do with objectionable content, e.g. burn, ignore, etc.
These hassles are reasons to not do it, or things to accept with open eyes if you do!
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:43 AM on March 12 [3 favorites]
Many operators end up not having a problem with keeping it stocked, but rather mountains of books that nobody takes. It depends of course on your neighborhood and context. LFL's work best in areas with a lot of foot traffic and ideally with plenty of kids and teens around. Most adults have read that Dan Brown thriller or 90's self-help book if they wanted to, but younger people and their books cycle more easily. If you don't have much foot traffic at all, be prepared for potential disappointment in very low use.
Be prepared to get nazi or kkk content, scientology pamphlets, chick tracts and any other weird/creepy org trying to use your LFL to further their agenda.
Be prepared to build it right. I think the official org has construction plans, but I also know people who have struggled with leaks and weathering.
If you do install one, I recommend having a policies in place on how to handle this stuff so that you don't have to make awkward decisions in the moment. Some to consider:
* check it at least daily for over/under fullness, and objectionable content.
*always keep some space in the LFL so that donations can be accepted. This means you need additional space in your house to handle overflow.
*set a time limit on how long books can stay.
* decide what you'll do with overflow books if/when you accumulate too many. I recommend donating to a public library book sale (check, many do have these)
* decide on what you'll do with objectionable content, e.g. burn, ignore, etc.
These hassles are reasons to not do it, or things to accept with open eyes if you do!
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:43 AM on March 12 [3 favorites]
I have a front yard book exchange that's not a Little Free Library. Mine is in a local (non-US) registry instead, and it's a BookCrossing location as well (we call them OBCZ).
The worst thing to come from it is a mass influx of books. Vandalism is possible but has not happened here yet, and it's been ten years.
Mine brings me a lot of joy and the folks in the neighbourhood seem to love it. All my books are registered on BookCrossing.com and clearly marked as such, which makes them harder to sell; if someone takes a bunch of books at a time, that makes me happy because that's the whole point. I want my books to travel.
posted by Too-Ticky at 8:20 AM on March 12 [3 favorites]
The worst thing to come from it is a mass influx of books. Vandalism is possible but has not happened here yet, and it's been ten years.
Mine brings me a lot of joy and the folks in the neighbourhood seem to love it. All my books are registered on BookCrossing.com and clearly marked as such, which makes them harder to sell; if someone takes a bunch of books at a time, that makes me happy because that's the whole point. I want my books to travel.
posted by Too-Ticky at 8:20 AM on March 12 [3 favorites]
I live in a pretty liberal/lefty neighborhood in DC and even so I'm aware of a few LFLs that have been significantly vandalized. There's one where somebody broke the glass in the door and the owner just never fixed it, and a couple that were knocked off their stands (and according to the neighborhood listserv one of those was pretty much destroyed after it was knocked down). Aside from that I can second what people say about some of them having pretty clear flavors (e.g. more kids books in this one, more adult fiction in that one), and there's one in particular that's always a bit of a mess because people will drop off entire boxes of books and just kind of shove them in willy-nilly.
People do take books to try to sell them, but I think that's a pretty good illustration of the doctrine of first sale. If you cared that much about maybe getting a few bucks on eBay (or trying to prevent other people from doing it), you could try to sell the books yourself. You could also just release them into the wild and let other people do what they will.
I don't think it takes away from the public library here. My bigger social concern is that it's free stuff for hoarders to take home and add to the hoard. When moving out of an apartment years ago I watched somebody take away all my old magazines (it took him multiple trips) and I just got a bad vibe from it, like I was contributing to a problem. Whenever one of the LFLs in my neighborhood has been rather suddenly emptied I worry that it's happened again.
Also, weirdly: even though it's a pretty liberal/lefty neighborhood there's still somebody occasionally sharing right wing garbage. I don't know if it's somebody who gets free copies from publishers for whatever reason or if they're actually choosing these books, but I'm always tempted to pull those books from circulation and destroy them myself.
posted by fedward at 8:32 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
People do take books to try to sell them, but I think that's a pretty good illustration of the doctrine of first sale. If you cared that much about maybe getting a few bucks on eBay (or trying to prevent other people from doing it), you could try to sell the books yourself. You could also just release them into the wild and let other people do what they will.
I don't think it takes away from the public library here. My bigger social concern is that it's free stuff for hoarders to take home and add to the hoard. When moving out of an apartment years ago I watched somebody take away all my old magazines (it took him multiple trips) and I just got a bad vibe from it, like I was contributing to a problem. Whenever one of the LFLs in my neighborhood has been rather suddenly emptied I worry that it's happened again.
Also, weirdly: even though it's a pretty liberal/lefty neighborhood there's still somebody occasionally sharing right wing garbage. I don't know if it's somebody who gets free copies from publishers for whatever reason or if they're actually choosing these books, but I'm always tempted to pull those books from circulation and destroy them myself.
posted by fedward at 8:32 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
Have you ever taken home a book from a little free library? Maybe I have bad luck, but all the ones I see have ten-year-old cookbooks and 20-year-old bestsellers. They seem more about aesthetics than actually providing interesting reading material, I say crankily (and not just because they're too small to fit a corpse into).
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:32 AM on March 12 [8 favorites]
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:32 AM on March 12 [8 favorites]
Yeah, I kind of hate LFLs. In my city, they are often poorly maintained and quickly become an eyesore, and there's nothing good to read in them ever. For how long do you think you want to run a little non-revenue-producing unattended store in your front yard? How long can you keep it looking nice? Will you keep it stocked with nice books? How long will it take before you resent doing that?
posted by shadygrove at 9:04 AM on March 12 [5 favorites]
posted by shadygrove at 9:04 AM on March 12 [5 favorites]
I also live in a "little free SOMETHING every 2 blocks" neighborhood and I love it and am also thinking about doing some kind of specialty box in my yard too. None of them are overflowing - maybe because there are so many - and they also seem to serve as an informal Lost and Found (we have a ton of dog-walker/runner/bike traffic and if you drop a glove or your beanie you just re-trace your steps and check the boxes).
Ours all seem pretty well taken care of and I have a hard time imagining it getting so out of hand one might suffer deeply. If you end up not liking the experience and take it away, probably there won't be rioters at your door.
My understanding of the concept was that it was more a take-a-book/leave-a-book system and the owner was not under any obligation to maintain a fully-stocked bookstore in theirs. I thought they were something of a way for a big reader to cull their own collection, but also that borrowers might bring books back in trade eventually, either what they borrowed or something else.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:14 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
Ours all seem pretty well taken care of and I have a hard time imagining it getting so out of hand one might suffer deeply. If you end up not liking the experience and take it away, probably there won't be rioters at your door.
My understanding of the concept was that it was more a take-a-book/leave-a-book system and the owner was not under any obligation to maintain a fully-stocked bookstore in theirs. I thought they were something of a way for a big reader to cull their own collection, but also that borrowers might bring books back in trade eventually, either what they borrowed or something else.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:14 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
I for one take stuff out of LFLs all the time! Cookbooks don't expire. My advice: make sure you have it in a location clearly visible from the street, and err on the side of taller for the shelves.
posted by umwelt at 9:55 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
posted by umwelt at 9:55 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
I love my local library and it is great that books are there to borrow.
I love our LFL, and those put up by others in our community, because it is great that books are there to own.
Many people will buy a book, read it, and give it away. LFLs are preferable to the trash in this case. Many people will read a book at the library and wish they had their own copy. LFLs sometimes have copies of popular books that one can keep, or occasionally they are books that are in the library but have a long list of borrowers waiting. I have many books that I found in a LFL and kept, sometimes giving away an older or more beat-up copy of the same book. For children's books especially, some kids are hard on books and parents may not want to risk damaging a library loaner they then have to pay for.
In short, support your local library and don't let that stop you from putting up a LFL or unbranded "take a book, leave a book" sharing box if you don't want to pay for the LFL registration.
posted by caution live frogs at 10:11 AM on March 12
I love our LFL, and those put up by others in our community, because it is great that books are there to own.
Many people will buy a book, read it, and give it away. LFLs are preferable to the trash in this case. Many people will read a book at the library and wish they had their own copy. LFLs sometimes have copies of popular books that one can keep, or occasionally they are books that are in the library but have a long list of borrowers waiting. I have many books that I found in a LFL and kept, sometimes giving away an older or more beat-up copy of the same book. For children's books especially, some kids are hard on books and parents may not want to risk damaging a library loaner they then have to pay for.
In short, support your local library and don't let that stop you from putting up a LFL or unbranded "take a book, leave a book" sharing box if you don't want to pay for the LFL registration.
posted by caution live frogs at 10:11 AM on March 12
There are a TON of LFLs in my neighborhood, all well-stocked and maintained. I'm most get my books from the public library, but I think LFLs have their place. Kids whose grown-ups don't have time to get them to the local PL can get some new reading materials. Folks who might be transportation insecure and not within walking distance of their PL have a different option. And it keeps books out of the garbage and recycling; I will often weed books out of my collection that don't have any resale value and put them in an LFL. (Some PLs will accept donations, but not all.)
My advice is to make sure water can't get in! You don't want to turn your little book nook into a mold colony. Also: if your LFL isn't taking off, and/or you have a big enough set-up to include multiple kinds of free items, consider a Little Free Pantry. My friends down the block have a HUGE set-up with a LFL on top and a LFP on the bottom. We live in a mixed-income neighborhood and apparently the pantry is used with some frequency.
posted by leftover_scrabble_rack at 10:14 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
My advice is to make sure water can't get in! You don't want to turn your little book nook into a mold colony. Also: if your LFL isn't taking off, and/or you have a big enough set-up to include multiple kinds of free items, consider a Little Free Pantry. My friends down the block have a HUGE set-up with a LFL on top and a LFP on the bottom. We live in a mixed-income neighborhood and apparently the pantry is used with some frequency.
posted by leftover_scrabble_rack at 10:14 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
In someone's broader "LF___" project in Seattle, there's the Little Free Failure of Capitalism, which distributes soap, socks, masks, Narcan, lead tests, USB charging, art, zines, voicemail, handwarmers, etc.
Relevant to the "Why maybe *not* do this" part, the website there also includes monthly restock notes where the person running it notes challenges with restocking & occasional vandalism. So that might be useful to read through and ask yourself "Does this feel like the sort of challenge I would be discouraged by facing?"
posted by CrystalDave at 11:29 AM on March 12 [6 favorites]
Relevant to the "Why maybe *not* do this" part, the website there also includes monthly restock notes where the person running it notes challenges with restocking & occasional vandalism. So that might be useful to read through and ask yourself "Does this feel like the sort of challenge I would be discouraged by facing?"
posted by CrystalDave at 11:29 AM on March 12 [6 favorites]
There is at least one [Free Little Art Gallery] in the world
Oh, more than that. I was just perusing the local options on the Little Free Library World Map and noticed there's a Free Little Art Gallery near me (but I haven't checked it out yet).
posted by Rash at 12:39 PM on March 12
Oh, more than that. I was just perusing the local options on the Little Free Library World Map and noticed there's a Free Little Art Gallery near me (but I haven't checked it out yet).
posted by Rash at 12:39 PM on March 12
What label are you looking under because I am definitely not finding it?
posted by Kitteh at 12:50 PM on March 12
posted by Kitteh at 12:50 PM on March 12
Oh wait, these are mostly like LFLs for art projects, not single size serving community art. Got it. Shepherd's rotates monthly but no one can go in and make art like these appear to be. NVM.
posted by Kitteh at 12:55 PM on March 12 [1 favorite]
posted by Kitteh at 12:55 PM on March 12 [1 favorite]
My brother's suburban neighborhood has a Free Little Art Gallery near the pool / clubhouse which seems delightfully stocked with artwork from (I assume) local kids-- definitely a make one / take one vibe with no little figures or easels. Very fun! I'd like to create one for my more city neighborhood, possibly with paper and cheap art supplies in it. Hmm.... thanks for asking this question!
posted by travertina at 2:11 PM on March 12
posted by travertina at 2:11 PM on March 12
I am a LFL connoisseur. I don't have one myself, because there are literally seven within about five blocks of my house. I definitely find things to read, but mostly I am the sort of weirdo who only donates books, straightens things up, and discards garbage/propaganda on the regular. When I donate, I drive around with my big box of books I no longer want, and put a couple in each one.
The chief issue I see around here is a LFL that leaks and ruins books. Build it to withstand the weather where you live! If you build it where a snowplow will be an issue, then don't build it so close to the road! I have very rarely seen an empty one, meaning it's been cleaned out by an asshole. I live in Duluth, MN, a small city, and I've only seen it like twice in ten years. I have heard of one getting burned by hooligans, but when that happened the whole neighborhood turned out to replace it and the books.
I think that if you build it well, check it over every week or so to clean out trash, and make sure there are books in it that someone will actually want, you're golden.
posted by RedEmma at 3:34 PM on March 12 [3 favorites]
The chief issue I see around here is a LFL that leaks and ruins books. Build it to withstand the weather where you live! If you build it where a snowplow will be an issue, then don't build it so close to the road! I have very rarely seen an empty one, meaning it's been cleaned out by an asshole. I live in Duluth, MN, a small city, and I've only seen it like twice in ten years. I have heard of one getting burned by hooligans, but when that happened the whole neighborhood turned out to replace it and the books.
I think that if you build it well, check it over every week or so to clean out trash, and make sure there are books in it that someone will actually want, you're golden.
posted by RedEmma at 3:34 PM on March 12 [3 favorites]
The woman down the street from me is on the board of our local branch of the Boston Public Library. She also has a little free library outside her house. Libraries are a land of contrasts.
posted by grog at 6:18 AM on March 13
posted by grog at 6:18 AM on March 13
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posted by aws17576 at 8:12 PM on March 11 [9 favorites]