Little Free Libraries
Ken and I just got home last night from a five-week trip to Texas (also camping in Arkansas and New Mexico) and on one of our last nights camping, we came across a Little Free Library. Are you familiar with these charming little mini-libraries? The collage below shows just some of the Little Free Libraries Ken and I have come across on our travels across the country, and in our own hometowns when we lived in Kansas and here in Missouri.
Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization based in St. Paul, Minnesota. According to their website, their mission is “to be a catalyst for building community, inspiring readers, and expanding book access for all through a global network of volunteer-led Little Free Library book-exchange boxes.”
The vision of Little Free Library is to have “a book-exchange box in every community and a book for every reader.” I love that idea! And not only is it a great goal, but the library boxes themselves are just charming! This one was near the bathhouse at Caddo Lake State Park in Texas. I’m always thrilled to find a book by one of my writers friends inside. Susan May Warren’s book was just begging someone to pick it up! (I’d already read this one or I may have grabbed it for myself!)
I’m finally learning to always have a few of my own books in the car, so when we come across a Little Free Library, I have something to contribute. This library had a special section designated for children’s books, so we added a copy of Ken’s Stick Horse picture book, and his young readers book, Dino Hunters: Discovery in the Desert.
This colorful Little Free Library may have been the one that introduced me to the charming little library boxes. We came across it a few years ago on one of our Friday garage sale dates. I’ve been intrigued by them ever since. I love the creativity of each one and how some of them have special themes for children’s books or inspirational books, etc.
This sweet replica of the houses on this brick street in Bellevue, IL was in front of an Airbnb Ken and I stayed at last September. I’ve dreamed of owning an Airbnb someday (though I’ve resigned myself to merely writing about Airbnbs at this stage of my life 
) but if I ever did open a little inn, it would certainly have a Little Free Library in front of it!
This beauty was near Edisto Beach, near Charleston, SC. And sadly I had no books with me to contribute!
Do you have a Little Free Library near where you live? Have you ever exchanged books at a Little Free Library? I’d love to hear your stories about these charming little book nooks that I think are a new American icon!
