Little Free Library

I'm sooooo excited to share this project with everyone!  It's been a month in the making.  Anyone  who knows me knows that I love to read and always have at least one book if not many going at a time.   Most people would never know that as a youngster I was placed in remedial reading for a short period of time. For a while everyone thought I could read but the school realized that I had just memorized what was being read to me.  My family moved and we attended a different school when I entered fourth grade. I tested out of remedial reading at that time but was put in the lowest reading group that year.  However; by the beginning of fifth grade I was in the highest reading group and never looked back. I took AP English as a senior in HS and tested out of a class for college. I've been a voracious reader ever since and when given the opportunity to spread literacy to my neighborhood I found it a match made in heaven. I love to get lost in a book, to relax and forget about any worries for a little bit each day.  Beyond art and creating, reading is my break from reality that keeps me grounded.

Back at the end of June at the Altered Book Workshop I went to, I met Linda and latter her husband Roger. If you recall from an earlier post when visiting their home Linda show me this Little Free Library that her husband made. She told me about the project and it's mission and I was hooked! I told her I wanted to make one and thus I set out to do it.

The Little Free Library Concept:

The Beginning 
"The originators of this social enterprise are Todd Bol and Rick Brooks, both of whom have several decades of entrepreneurial and international experience.  They first met in 2009 while exploring the benefits of green practices in small businesses, discovering that they shared a commitment to service and the quality of community life around the world."

Little Free Library is Non-Profit Tax Exempt Mission
"Little Free Library, Ltd. began in 2009 as a program of the non-profit, tax-exempt organization Wisconsin Partners for SustainAbility, which has incubated several nonprofits projects and organizations.  Incorporated in Wisconsin, Little Free Library has a board of directors and a clearly defined non-profit mission.  "

Their Mission is:

• "To promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide."
• "To build a sense of community as we share skills, creativity and wisdom across generations."

This information was taken from the Little Free Library website. To find out more about this project or to create your own go to:http://www.littlefreelibrary.org/about-us.html

I started this project at the beginning of August. The library itself took a couple of weeks to put together  and paint. The bench and stool took an afternoon and the putting together of everything (gardening, rocks, library installation) took about half a day.  One of the best parts about this project was that I pretty much built the entire project ncluding the landscaping for $15.  I used all scrap materials I had around the house left over from other projects. The door was an old window from my house. Neighbor Bob had roofing paper and some quarter round trim that he donated.  My dad hunted down and lugged the river rocks up to Rochester for me. My mom brought up some perrenials and the greenhouse at Nazareth College donated the rest of the perennials.

Perhaps the best part about this entire process is that it brought together an entire community and beyond. Books were donated from my mother's co-workers,  my co-workers and their children, and from my book club group. Like I mentioned previously, some of the materials were donated or found.  I cut and designed the little library myself but needed my dad to help put it all together. Neighbor Bob saw me dangerously using my circular saw and struggling to put the bench together one afternoon and offered an extra set of hands to complete the bench.  Then my mom and dad donated part of their weekend to come up and help me install the library and complete it with the landscaping. (Their thank you was a homemade dinner followed by Netsin's ice cream.)

The library has been up for about 24 hours and a ton of neighbors have come by to look at it and comment on it.  Sometimes I'm nearby and talk with them and other times I'm in the house and hear them praising the concept and library through my house windows.

One of the first things everyone asked me when I mentioned that I wanted to create a Little Free Library was "Aren't you afraid someone will ruin it?"  The answer is no. I'm an overall optimistic person and believe if you make something beautiful and put good intentions out there that everything will work out the way it was meant to. Besides I have plenty of neighbors around at all hours and I know they will keep their eyes out and make sure nothing happens. 

The last part to complete this project is that I've created a half sheet flyer that I'm going to copy and bring around to all of the homes in my area (which is a lot) to help spread the word.  I hope the neighborhood enjoys it!

Thank you to all of you awesome people who helped to make this project amazing!

p.s. Makerspace would like to work with others in the community to make more Little Free Library's. You can contact them via their website: http://www.rochestermakerspace.org/ or  Rob directly @ 

                                      (Five Eight Five) 210-0075

Update 9/5/13: 2 days in and there's evidence that it's being used!

Here is my flyer that I walked around and put in mailbox's. I only did my block (started with 60 flyers) and was 6 flyers short. Boy even I didn't realize how many houses were on just my block (not including my entire street which is another 3 blocks long!)  It was pretty cool because I met some new neighbors along the way.

** Updates:

 A friend of mine texted me this picture she saw while in Buffalo. She said it was outside of a church near the Frank Lloyd Wright houses. 

 

Check out these other blogs from an aquaintaince regarding Little Free Libraries:
http://thecuriousanduncommon.com/little-free-library-8308-rochester-ny/
https://www.facebook.com/TheCuriousAndUncommon/posts/338012853009406?notif_t=like