CARMEL – Miniature libraries are popping up in parks, trails and front yards across the metro area, and you don’t need a membership card to use them.
They’re known as Little Free Libraries and, true to their name, they aren’t much larger than a mailbox. They’re typically made of wood, with a roof, a glass door and a bookshelf stocked with a few dozen books.
And although the national movement was slow to come to Indiana at first, the idea has started to catch on. From 16 registered in 2012, Indiana has 98 today, with more on the horizon.
Here’s how it works:
Take a book you want. Leave a book, if you’d like.
And that’s it.
There’s no due dates or late fees, and if you fall in love with the book you borrowed? You can keep it, guilt-free.
“At first, people weren’t quite sure what to think of it,” said Amy Rexroth, a Girl Scout troop leader in Carmel. Rexroth’s girls maintain a Little Free Library just north of 106th Street on the Monon Trail. At first, she said, park officials assumed the scouts were trying to sell something, and threatened to nix the idea.
“I’m like, ‘it’s free.’ ‘What do you mean it’s free?’”
But although the Monon box got off to a slow start in fall 2012, it has grown into a popular stop.
When the weather’s nice, they typically see a 12 to 15 book turnover each week, Rexroth said. That’s about double the national average of 25 books a month, according to littlefreelibraries.org. Kids books go the fastest, often snatched up by moms who visit the Monon, strollers in tow. But adult best-sellers like John Grisham and James Patterson are popular, too, as are cooking books, to Rexroth’s surprise.
“It’s generated a lot of discussion, which has been fun, too,” Rexroth said. “We live right behind it and we hear people talking out there.”
Todd Bol, who built the original Little Free Library in 2009 outside his Wisconsin home, says he hears the same story all across the country: these innocuous wooden boxes build a sense of community.
“One newspaper said we were a revolution in neighborhood conversation,” Bol said. “How cool is that?”
In the footsteps of individuals like Bol and Rexroth’s scouts, area organizations are trying to replicate that success in an effort to promote literacy, as well as community.
The Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library has six around town, with 10 more planned; the Greenwood Public Library debuted its first one in April, with 10 planned in all. And this month, Carmel Clay Public Library opened its first three, with future locations already in the works.
Beth Jenneman, a spokeswoman for Carmel Clay, said she expects there to be plenty of interest, but expansion will have to be tempered by the need for upkeep. “We don’t want them to be empty ever,” she said.
Indianapolis has lagged behind its suburban neighbors; it had just three, according to the most recent count available online.
“But won’t people steal the books?” reads a frequently asked question on the national group’s website.
Impossible, Bol insists — you can’t steal a free book. And he’s found vandalism to be pretty rare. “In part, it’s because we say to everybody: ‘It’s yours. This is your community’s,’” Bol said.
That community spirit has helped keep the Little Library on the Monon well-stocked.
“Only twice have we been just completely empty — and both times we went to Goodwill and Half-Price Books and bought a bunch of clearance paperbacks,” Rexroth said. “I don’t think the troop has put a total of $10 into it.”
They’re known as Little Free Libraries and, true to their name, they aren’t much larger than a mailbox. They’re typically made of wood, with a roof, a glass door and a bookshelf stocked with a few dozen books.
And although the national movement was slow to come to Indiana at first, the idea has started to catch on. From 16 registered in 2012, Indiana has 98 today, with more on the horizon.
Here’s how it works:
Take a book you want. Leave a book, if you’d like.
And that’s it.
There’s no due dates or late fees, and if you fall in love with the book you borrowed? You can keep it, guilt-free.
“At first, people weren’t quite sure what to think of it,” said Amy Rexroth, a Girl Scout troop leader in Carmel. Rexroth’s girls maintain a Little Free Library just north of 106th Street on the Monon Trail. At first, she said, park officials assumed the scouts were trying to sell something, and threatened to nix the idea.
“I’m like, ‘it’s free.’ ‘What do you mean it’s free?’”
But although the Monon box got off to a slow start in fall 2012, it has grown into a popular stop.
When the weather’s nice, they typically see a 12 to 15 book turnover each week, Rexroth said. That’s about double the national average of 25 books a month, according to littlefreelibraries.org. Kids books go the fastest, often snatched up by moms who visit the Monon, strollers in tow. But adult best-sellers like John Grisham and James Patterson are popular, too, as are cooking books, to Rexroth’s surprise.
“It’s generated a lot of discussion, which has been fun, too,” Rexroth said. “We live right behind it and we hear people talking out there.”
Todd Bol, who built the original Little Free Library in 2009 outside his Wisconsin home, says he hears the same story all across the country: these innocuous wooden boxes build a sense of community.
“One newspaper said we were a revolution in neighborhood conversation,” Bol said. “How cool is that?”
In the footsteps of individuals like Bol and Rexroth’s scouts, area organizations are trying to replicate that success in an effort to promote literacy, as well as community.
The Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library has six around town, with 10 more planned; the Greenwood Public Library debuted its first one in April, with 10 planned in all. And this month, Carmel Clay Public Library opened its first three, with future locations already in the works.
Beth Jenneman, a spokeswoman for Carmel Clay, said she expects there to be plenty of interest, but expansion will have to be tempered by the need for upkeep. “We don’t want them to be empty ever,” she said.
Indianapolis has lagged behind its suburban neighbors; it had just three, according to the most recent count available online.
“But won’t people steal the books?” reads a frequently asked question on the national group’s website.
Impossible, Bol insists — you can’t steal a free book. And he’s found vandalism to be pretty rare. “In part, it’s because we say to everybody: ‘It’s yours. This is your community’s,’” Bol said.
That community spirit has helped keep the Little Library on the Monon well-stocked.
“Only twice have we been just completely empty — and both times we went to Goodwill and Half-Price Books and bought a bunch of clearance paperbacks,” Rexroth said. “I don’t think the troop has put a total of $10 into it.”
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