Free Little Library

Happy Saturday, friends! I hope your day is going well in your neck of the woods. I am excited to tell you of a new bookish project I am working on...I am setting up a Free Little Library in my neighborhood (in my yard!) and I could NOT be more excited about it. I want it built like yesterday so I could already be stocking it with books...unfortunately, it is a process and it takes time and I need to be patient!

So, where did this idea come from?

Back in October one of the Top Tuesday Prompts was to share Bookish resources and someone mentioned the free little library (I can't remember who!). So, this idea has been peculating in my head since then. I finally talked to Matt (my husband) about it this week and he was on board. Then, I posted on my neighborhood webpage to see what the response would be there...it was positive which made my day!

Why do I want to do it?

I love ALL bookish things, I love reading, and I want to give back. I have been blessed with quite a few advanced reader copies of books this year, some I want to keep, and some I don't. I also have won quite a few book giveaways this year, more than at any other time in my life! (which isn't saying that much since I rarely win anything, LOL). I didn't know what to do with the ones that I didn't want after I read them. I thought about doing giveaways, but then I would have to pay postage, which could get expensive. It's not right to sell them (most companies don't want you to), but I wanted to do something! The more I thought about it the more I really wanted to do the free little library. However, I was worried about the response, from my husband and family, and from our neighbors. I finally decided to go for it because I do want to do it. It is a tangible way that I can love my neighbors, share my love of reading, and hopefully promote a love of literacy in our community. I LOVE our physical library and in no way want to take from that, but sometimes we want to own our books, especially children, so we can read them over and over again. 

Although this is my brainchild (thanks to the anonymous person who planted the idea) it is not something I can do on my own. I will need donations of books and hopefully, once the word gets out and the library is up and running, it will kind of keep itself going, as the idea is to take a book, bring a book. People are under no obligation to follow that, and it will be harder at first, but I am hoping that once the idea catches on, it will be a positive experience in our community. I have already had neighbors say they will be donating books and I am SO thankful. I have reached out to a few other people who and some comments have been positive and others have been more lukewarm. That is okay, I have enough excitement for everybody! 

How is the process going?

I have already ordered the official charter sign that will be on the Free Little Library. Once it gets here I can then add the library to the world map so that others can find the library. Matt is going to design the library (we have tons of ideas!), but the basic idea is for it to be two levels, the top for books for older kids and adults, and the lower area for our littlest friends so they can pick their books too! Once he has designed it he is going to reach out and see if we can get materials donated. If not, we hope that others will want to step in and help with the cost. Hopefully, the only costs will be the sign, the stamps, and stickers for the books (all donated books will be stamped with a stamp that says Always a gift, never for sale so that the books cannot be taken and sold elsewhere), and the materials for the actual library, assuming the materials are not donated. I have already ordered the stamp and stickers. We could have bought a kit through the free little library website, but the library is too small for our way of thinking 😂😂😂 I have also set up a Facebook page so that there is a central place for all updates and to help spread the word in the community.

How can you help?

I would love it if you could support me in this endeavor. Share the Facebook page (especially if you are in Union County or surrounding counties), if you are close by and your shelves are overflowing with books you are never going to read again, consider donating them to me, pray that all goes smoothly and that this will be the blessing to our community that I hope it will be. If you are further away and want to send a book or two, we will not turn you down. If you are an author and would like to get a book into our community, this is a great way to do it, or if you just want to send bookmarks or something similar to get your name out there. If you would like to help with the stamping/sticking of books, be an admin for the Facebook page to help moderate comments, or if you are closer, stop in and organize the little library upon occasion! It will take a village and you are part of mine! Thank you for any help that you can give 😀