Have you Heard of Little Free Libraries?

I had a great week of training in Ripley, WVA with a group of teachers that I just love! They are so eager to learn and to share ideas with me! Cheryl, one of the teachers, was excited to show me the newest project in their town…Little Free Libraries! Have you heard of them? I hadn’t, so I thought I would share all about it.

So here’s how they started… “In the beginning—2009–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.”

So the Boy Scouts in Ripley and the shop class at the high school joined ranks to put them in Ripley…organized by the public librarian.

This is the one at the school. Cheryl and her teaching partners already have it stocked and ready to go. She has seen many parents sitting at the picnic table reading to their preschoolers. The first graders visit it during recess! Books are flying off of the shelf and new ones are appearing!

So what about the rest of the town? Well, Cheryl took me to see a few that were just erected this week. These Little Free Libraries are going to be operational after their “dedication” and delivery of a starter set of books.

This is the one at the bank.

And this is one at a church. Remember the Sunday School rhyme, “Here is the church and here is the steeple. Open the door and see all the people.”? Well, that was the inspiration for how the church decided to decorate their Little Free Library. We actually saw 2-3 more the next morning on our way to school!

If you want to know more about how to get this project started in your town you can go (here).

Any of you already have them in your town?