Library in the Garden

Todd Bol's front yard is home to the world's first "Little Free Library." Bol made it seven years ago as a tribute to his mother who was a teacher and book lover. Todd Bol put up a miniature version of a one-room schoolhouse outside his home in this western Wisconsin city. He filled it with books and invited his neighbours to borrow the books.

Bol's neighbours loved the idea. They began dropping by often. Then a friend in another city put out some library boxes. They were also very popular. More little libraries began popping up in Wisconsin. Each one invites visitors to "take a book, return a book." Three years later, those boxes were in many places in the world. There were thousands of them in at least 36 countries. There were Little Free Libraries in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Congo Republic, and Australia.

Bol is now the head of what has become the Little Free Libraries Organization. It is run from a workshop outside Hudson. Bol, Brooks, and helpers build wooden book boxes in different styles and sizes. The boxes are offered for sale on the group's Web site. There are also plans for people to build their own library boxes. All boxes are alike in some ways. They are eye-catching and they also protect the books from the weather.

For now, most of the money for this non-profit organization comes from sales of the little library boxes. They cost from $250 to $600. It is also $25 to sign up the library on the organization’s web site. Little Free Library has also received money from people who support the group. Bol says that the group will stay a non-profit one, but he also wants to make enough money for the group to grow.

"We are working very hard to be able to make enough money, but it will be a while," Brooks said. "What's encouraging is that, every day people call us and they have the cleverest, interesting, and sometimes moving ideas."

The Rotary Club, plans to use the book boxes in its literacy efforts in Ghana. Books For Africa, has sent over 27 million books to 48 countries since 1988. The groups are working with Antoinette Ashong. She supports literacy. She also heads a girls' school in Ghana. "I want to spread reading in Africa, which is a problem because in Africa it is very difficult to get books to read," Ashong said. She has already put up 45 boxes in poorer neighbourhoods.

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, school leaders were aiming to put up about 100 little libraries. They were being placed in neighbourhoods where many kids don't have books at home. One library goes through 40 books a day.

Melanie Sanco works for the schools. She said “I absolutely love them. It sparks the imagination. You see them around, and you want one…. They're cute. And kids who have books stay in school longer.”