WASHINGTON– It looks like a birdhouse, a mailbox, or maybe a dollhouse.
A closer inspection reveals a tiny library inside the wooden structure. But these are more than just boxes full of books.
Little Free Libraries have popped up all over D.C., Maryland and Virginia. These libraries don’t require membership cards, nor do they have late fees or time limits on the books you’ve “checked out.” In fact, if you like the book, it’s OK to keep it.
Little Free Libraries started in Wisconsin in 2009, when Todd Bol built what would become the first Little Library as a memorial for his mother.
Partnering with Rick Brooks, also from Wisconsin, Bol and Brooks spread the libraries around Madison, Wisconsin and Minneapolis, Minnesota, as well as other communities. As of July 2015, there are more than 30,000 Little Libraries worldwide.
From Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to Hanoi, Vietnam, Little Free Libraries has provided children and adults around the globe with access to free literature. India, Brazil, Italy, Ghana, Spain and Guatemala are a few of the countries with Little Free Libraries.
Little free Libraries relies on people to build and fill their own Little Libraries so that the movement continues to expand. The Little free Libraries website has plenty of information and resources to help with the building process.
Library creators are called Stewards, and it’s up to them to choose what their libraries look like, and what goes in them. Stewards can register their Little Library on the website and add it to the world map of Libraries.
There are 31 Little Libraries in D.C., more than 140 in Maryland and more than 180 in Virginia. To search for a Library near you, check out the searchable Library map or the list of registered libraries.
