There is a crate in the trunk of my car filled with books acquired from various places, most of which are from my personal library that I part with to make room for new acquisitions. It’s a revolving door type of situation. I use this crate of books as inventory for whenever I come across a public book exchange, the kind of “take-a-book-leave-a-book” system you may find in certain coffee shops or bars. I love these places. If I find something of worth, it is my personal philosophy to leave a book of equal value. Perhaps the most popular of these book exchanges, of course, is the Little Free Library (LFL). Leeds, who I imagine is quite fortunate in this regard, has five of these Little Free Libraries. Yes, these exist for our community and their existence does not require much effort from any one person, but I want them to thrive with the possibility of changing someone’s life. Effort here is required. Let me explain.
Anyone unfamiliar with the LFL, they are not very big. Depending on specific book dimensions, each one holds 20-30 books. Maybe more for some, maybe less for others. One of the five LFL boxes is dedicated to children’s books, which holds substantially more of the thinner spines. With 100ish available spots, we need to approach the task of filling these shelves as custodians and curators. I have been guilty of taking unwanted (dare I say bad) books and cramming them into the spaces that barely existed to begin with. But I had to think to myself, “who does this help other than me? What value does filling the box with terrible books bring to the community?” Don’t worry, I have since changed my ways, and I suppose this is an attempt to get others to play along.
This weekend I opened one of the boxes and saw a coloring book that was completed – yes, no blank pages for coloring. I saw stacks of pamphlets and even CDs, none of these related to literature but rather differing, strong, opinions of the soul. There were a few from a series represented, but not the complete set, and none of which were the first in said series. I’d wager it’s been nearly 30 years since someone has said, “I really want to read book seven of the “Left Behind” series.” It began to feel like the equivalent of going to an estate sale looking for albums, only to find what you expected all along, another Donny Osmond…
So what do we do? Well, I’m glad you asked. Fill our Little Free Libraries with books you love, books you would be excited to grab, and books you would love to introduce to a fellow community member. I hold on to the hope that someone will walk by one day and decide this is the day they are going to commit to reading a book, and that book they choose changes their path to that of a lifelong reader. My dread comes from the same scenario, but the person has only the choice between a Paula Dean memoir or a tattered mass-market paperback by [insert any author peddling commercial fiction]. I believe we can do better.
If we start to view the limited space of our LFLs as a curated selection, rather than a dumpster for the unwanted, we increase our chances of delivering joy. That’s a community to be proud of, one that puts in the effort. See something of little to no value taking up space? Take it out. Visit our local book store, The Burrow, and look for used copies of books you love and buy them to put in a LFL (there is one right across the street). Let’s take pride in this small, essential, corner of our community. Borrowing the charge of our public parks, “leave it better than you found it.”
Note: Do you know where your Little Free Libraries are located? Spend a day on the hunt! If you would like to submit photos of books given or books taken, The Ledger will be happy to share them in a future article.
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