When I first learned about the “Little Free Library”, I thought it was a great idea. At the time, it seemed less about people building them in their own front yard, and focused more on putting them in a public place where the residents didn’t have easy access to an actual library.
But it devolved to what Irk describes, and even if an individual unit starts out well stocked, the book selection quickly becomes discarded crap, with half the books water damaged or missing pages and the other half being books nobody wants to read in the first place.
I guess I’m lucky. My town (Dunedin, FL) has had “Little Libraries” for MANY years - long before hipsters made them another way to get apparently much needed attention.
They get used a lot, and have decent content (albeit a little “crotch novel” heavy, but it’s Dunedin, FL and we have plenty of bored housemoms), and are generally cool to see around town. But then that’s Dunedin - we’re not for everyone I suppose.
We have a MASSIVE public library as well.
Oh - and we love dogs, too - they’re welcome pretty much everywhere…
My bride had me out in the front yard yesterday, trying to drive a post into the ground so that her little free library could migrate from the garage (where it’s been since we moved to the new house) to the street.
Thanks a lot, Irk, for making my effort seem pointless.
I don’t use them (I’ve been all digital for some time), but I’ve seen them in the nearby neighborhood village. They don’t seem to have a big selection, but from casual observation, do appear to see a fair amount of churn. So I guess someone is getting some utility from them.
They cost too damn much to really give a damn about
@mzsooner Huh? Cost too much? “Free” is right there in the name.
When I first learned about the “Little Free Library”, I thought it was a great idea. At the time, it seemed less about people building them in their own front yard, and focused more on putting them in a public place where the residents didn’t have easy access to an actual library.
But it devolved to what Irk describes, and even if an individual unit starts out well stocked, the book selection quickly becomes discarded crap, with half the books water damaged or missing pages and the other half being books nobody wants to read in the first place.
This definitely bothers you more than it should.
I guess I’m lucky. My town (Dunedin, FL) has had “Little Libraries” for MANY years - long before hipsters made them another way to get apparently much needed attention.
They get used a lot, and have decent content (albeit a little “crotch novel” heavy, but it’s Dunedin, FL and we have plenty of bored housemoms), and are generally cool to see around town. But then that’s Dunedin - we’re not for everyone I suppose.
We have a MASSIVE public library as well.
Oh - and we love dogs, too - they’re welcome pretty much everywhere…
My bride had me out in the front yard yesterday, trying to drive a post into the ground so that her little free library could migrate from the garage (where it’s been since we moved to the new house) to the street.
Thanks a lot, Irk, for making my effort seem pointless.
I don’t use them (I’ve been all digital for some time), but I’ve seen them in the nearby neighborhood village. They don’t seem to have a big selection, but from casual observation, do appear to see a fair amount of churn. So I guess someone is getting some utility from them.