Little Free Library

Yesterday, Sarah and I had the day to ourselves.  Sarah said she wanted to ride bikes around Tacoma, and I had recently read an article about a Tacoma pocket library bicycle tour.  It's as if someone put peanut butter in your right hand, jelly in your left, and then asked, "What amazing kind of sandwich could you make with these ingredients?"  

The Little Free Library (aka - pocket library) idea is new to us, but not new.  The concept is kind of like the penny jar at the store register.  Take one if you need it, leave one if you can, don't expect it to be a reliable income stream.  You really don't know what you are going to find.  We brought 4 books from our home we no longer used, and after visiting 5 pocket libraries, returned with 5 new books.  Great success.  Use the LINK to find one near you.

As you can see from the photos, the Little Free Libraries are not large, generally in the front yard of a private residence, and many times constructed to look much like the homes near which they reside.  Most libraries are constructed from old kitchen cabinets or pieces of furniture which have been weather proofed to protect the books.  In the photo on the right, as the house got a new roof, so did the library.  The roofers were quite inquisitive about the whole process too.  

Our last library of the tour happened to be just 3 blocks from our house!  We mentioned to a neighbor our plans for the day and they directed us to this newly constructed library maintained by the local elementary school.  Jackpot.  The largest library we found and truckloads of kids books.  We will be going for walks with the kids and stopping by here regularly.

No need for that copy of "Parenting for Dummies," that's way too advanced for us.