A Little Free Library in New England Encourages Book Sharing

Growing up in the tiny town of Cummington, Massachusetts, didn’t allow for a lot of “extras’’ at our school. One of my favorite memories was knowing that once a month the Book Mobile would roll in and we’d get to climb on, two by two, to go through the collection and pick out a special treasure to keep for that month.

Fast forward to 2019, and there’s a new movement to propel kids to the love of reading.

The Little Free Library Organization is a nonprofit that encourages book sharing in your neighborhood.

According to Little Free Library, kids growing up in homes without books are on average three years behind kids in homes with lots of books!

Making its debut this year was the new Little Free Library called “Fairy’s Tales” in Orono, ME. This adorable little library was transformed from an actual tree that fell back in October 2019, according to the Bangor Daily News.

The newspaper reported that Old Town chainsaw artist Shawn Bennet created it from the stump of a tree that had fallen a few years before and that the library encourages all to “take a book, share a book.”

If this sounds like a great idea to you, you can start your own! How should you get started?

Well, according to Littlefreelibrary.org, step one is to identify a location, step two is to get a library or build your own, and then step three is registering your library to gain access to lots of support.

You’ll even get an official charter sign.

So whether it’s a rolling library on wheels, or an old transformed tree, you too can start your own little library and encourage the gift of reading to your community!

Maybe we can get some going in New Hampshire? I'm sure there are some around I just haven't spotted yet!