Public libraries in the area are crowing about their Little Free Libraries, and with good reason. The small wooden boxes offer free books to anyone who passes by.
Free, as in, take any book you want. No library card or rental fee required. No late fees either if you decide to keep it. Got one to return? Just stick it in the box.
The concept reportedly started a few years ago with a guy in Wisconsin who built one in his front yard. From there it spread around the country building a strong sense of community.
Actually, the idea started in New York years earlier. I was there on business and wandered around Central Park between meetings. There on an empty park bench was a book. I first thought someone had forgotten it.
Inside the front cover was a scribbled note: “Borrow this book,” it said. “When you finish, write your name below and return it to the bench.”
I recall it was a Stephen King book I had not read, so I took it. At my hotel I had a John Grisham novel that I had finished. I wrote my name in the front cover and placed it on the park bench.
Some time later I was back in the city where I dutifully returned the King book. I noticed more books sitting on benches in the area.
I picked up another one. This one had more than a dozen names scrawled inside.
Lamentably, I didn’t get back to New York for a long time, and I never returned the book.
I think this is a great idea with just one problem: We must resist the temptation to profit from it or burden it with rules and regulations.
Best of all, it disproves the dark theory that people don’t read anymore.
