My neighborhood is gloriously filled with Little Free Libraries and my life has changed for the better. I go for walks more often because the promise of getting to find a tiny house filled with books is just too good to pass up. And I’m willingly getting rid of books more often.
That’s right. Me. Getting rid of books.
I love dropping off a book, picking one up, and seeing my book gone the next time I stop by. People are really using these things, really taking books! Each time I visit one, bunches of new books have come and gone. Some days, the happy little book homes are filled with ancient, clearly unwanted series. Other days, I feel like a troll gathering a hoard of excellent books to take home with me.
It’s making me want to ship off the books that have been sitting on my shelves for years, waiting, seemingly forever, to be read. Ones I know I’ll never read, but can’t get rid of because I spent real dollars on them. But trading books? Count me in. I now have a pile of books waiting to go on a walk to find a new home.
I even made a Little Free Library shelf on Goodreads to track my finds. And lemme tell ya, these are some good finds. I expected them to be just like local Good Wills — filled with mass market paperbacks and four unwanted Twilights. But nope. Real, recent, good stuff. Sometimes I’m talking to my mom on the phone while I walk, and I start yelling about the great book I just found. Actually, when I was first finding them, I yelled a lot to my mom, too. Generally there’s just a lot of yelling when it comes to me and Little Free Libraries.
And my obsession is becoming a trait people remember about me. Some friends came out of town to visit, and said they wanted to go for a drive to find my little libraries. Coworkers send me pictures and addresses of the libraries they find on vacation or in their neighborhood. My mom tells me to use the LFL map to make a tour of some when I’m having a bad day. I keep track of my finds with the #collectingLFLs tag on Instagram.
It’s making me want to buy a house just so I can build my own Little Free Library. These things are magical. Truly.
Ok, now I need to go for a walk. Books await.
I rounded up my favorites from my collection over at Book Riot.
Ashley Holstrom 