A fun discovery I made recently was a growing movement called Little Free Libraries to promote reading and a sense of community in neighbourhoods across the world. This innovative idea started in the US, when someone made a collection of books available to people in their front yard. In exchange for taking a book, readers had to leave a book. Other people took up the idea and now there are over 30,000 little free libraries across the world. Anyone can of course set these up, but if you join the main non-profit organization behind this group you can get a lot of support and opportunities to network with others doing the same thing. What is fascinating is that when you look around the world, everyone has constructed their little free libraries in a different way. They have been seen as particularly valuable in areas with little access to books, so-called “book deserts”.

Bah humbug!

It is clear that there is a lot of excitement about the project, but of course not everyone is happy about this trend. There have been objections to where these little free libraries have been placed, with critics arguing that they hinder public access on paths. Others dislike the use of the word “library” in their name, as they fear it will downgrade the perceived value of public libraries and lead to further budget cuts for such essential public services. Sadly, there have also been cases of vandalism against little libraries.

Yet none of this will stand in the way of the popularity of little free libraries. Considering the benefits they can bring in terms of promoting reading, fostering community spirit (i.e. not just look down as people pass by others in their neighbourhood) and bringing people together for worthwhile initiatives, you can see why they continue to grow at a huge rate. You only have to look at the pictures of people using these little free libraries to understand the joy they can bring to neighbourhoods, especially in areas where books are such valuable commodities.