Large objects shaped like large birdhouses
are popping up around the city of Bellingham, attracting the attention of all
ages. Inside, you will find that it is in fact not a birdhouse, but a book
house known as a Little Free Library.
What
started as a “do-it-yourself project” in 2009 by Todd Bol in the state of
Wisconsin eventually became much bigger than he intended. They are now popping
up all over Bellingham on front lawns of neighborhood homes, outside shops, and
on pathways offering ways to reuse materials, meet neighbors and keep books
circulating for book enthusiasts and communities in Bellingham.
A
Little Free Library is a customized and weatherproofed cabinet-type box, which is
filled with books so that anyone in a community can come to gather, share and
borrow their favorite books. It is a place to “take a book and return a book”
with no due dates.
It is a new medium to
the traditional library system.
“I think it's a fabulous
idea,” said Rachel Hanley, employee at Village Books. “It promotes
reading especially if people are getting books for free without any
restrictions or due dates, it makes them want to read more and it helps the
book industry.”
Hanley also recommended
checking out bookcrossing.com, a networking site which aims to connect people
through books through enabling books to be tracked as it gets passed from
reader to reader.
This
movement isn’t just local, but has become a trend globally. As of January 2014, there are at
least 15,000 Little Free Libraries popping up all around the world throughout
56 countries. These Free Little Libraries are showing up in places as far away
as Germany,
Japan to even our Bellingham neighborhoods.
According to the Free
Little Libraries map, there are currently nine registered Little Free Libraries
in Bellingham with more to come (http://littlefreelibrary.org/ourmap/).
The first Little Free
Library introduced to Bellingham was in May 2012 by Stephanie Sardeson when she
moved from Minnesota.
“Our Free Little Library
traveled with us nearly 2,000 miles in the back of our U-Haul truck because we
wanted to bring a little piece of home with us to our new home in Bellingham,
and thought it would be a great way to get to know our neighbors,” said
Sardeson, steward of the Chuckanut Little Free Library.
Eowyn Savela, mother of
two young boys, dedicated knitter and book lover is the steward of the James
Street Little Free Library.
Savela and her family
put up their first Little Free Library in October 2013, and had a little
opening party when the first books were put in.
“My kids love it, and come with me everyday to
check the library,” said Savela. “Most days there’s usually something new or
something taken.”
Savela says that her
Little Free Library is in the perfect location because it is located right
across the street from Sunny land Elementary on James Street.
“It’s really fun to peek out your window and
see the kids coming by and using the Little Free Library,” said Savela. “We
also have a guestbook in the library where people can leave little notes or
pictures.”
Savela’s Little Free
Library offers not only a wide variety of adult and children books, but also
other goods to share as well.
“Usually we have about 50 books at a time, and
right now we have text books, novels, cook books and piano sheet music, but I
also like to add fun things that are not books into my library,” said Savela.
“I have put seed packets to plant, music, movies and my extra knitting needles
and yarn with instructions to make a learn to knit kit.”
Savela also keeps up a
Facebook page daily, which she made specifically for her James Street Little
Library. On her Facebook page she shares pictures of the current
selections of books in her library and pictures and links of other Free Little
Libraries in the area to check out.
To build her Free Little
Library, instead of buying a premade Free Little Library box, which are sold at
the RE Store in Bellingham, Savela bought a used $10 cabinet from the store,
and with the help of her father in law; they used scrap wood to build the box.
Eberhard Eichner, builder of the Free Little Library boxes, lead designer and builder of the Revision Division at The RE Store supports this trend. His job is to research and develop new uses from old materials that cannot be used.
“I think it's a great
grass roots book sharing program. It gets people more into reading and everyone
has extra books so it’s great to just have a way of giving them to other people
and sharing the reading,” said Eichner.
Eichner considers
himself a “repurpose coach.” He understands that many people do not have
the time to restore and reuse old materials, so he believes that it is his job
to share his findings and coach other people to do the same.
Eichner is trying not to
use the term “waste” anymore.
“Everything is really the starting point for
starting something different,” said Eichner. “When we use the word waste, it
seems like this is the end stage, but it’s not true because essentially it’s
never ending and the cycle keeps going on.”
On average, he builds a
Free Little Library in six to eight hours. Depending on the size and detail,
Free Little Libraries are sold at the Re Store for $350 to $375.
According to the Free
Little Library website, to start an official Free Little Library you must sign
up on the Free Little Library website at http://littlefreelibrary.org, and make a payment of
$35 to receive a packet, official charter sign and to get on the official map.
For more about the Revision
Division at the RE store, go to
For more information about
Eowyn Savela’s James Street Library, go to
For more information about Book Crossing, go
to
Follow Little Free Libraries on
Twitter and Instagram #SparkLFL
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