My Little Free Library

IMG_2826Our Little Free Library, hosted by Post Alpha-Bits Cereal, is the talk of the town. Literally! Since we opened on Mother’s Day, we’ve had visitors every single day, had 2 newspaper articles written about us, been talked about on the radio, AND – this is the best part – had AT LEAST 10 individuals contact us to ask about our library and how they can get one, too! There are even some amazing 8th grade students at my school who ended their year by building some Little Libraries to place throughout our community. The interest has been AMAZING!

BUT … wanna know the BEST thing about our Little Free Library? The increased interest it has created in my children with regard to reading. They love to check out “our library” each afternoon to see if new books have been added while we were away. It’s fantastic!

IMG_2824Being a steward of a Little Free Library is easy! All you need is a location, a library (there are TONS of plans online for building your own, or you can buy one from Little Free Library) and some books – then register your library so others can find it, and BOOM … you’re ready to go!

Having been in business for a few weeks now, I do have some tips for would-be library owners, as well as library visitors:

For owners: While you cannot control the content of what is left in your library, use your judgement when it comes to what books you keep for your visitors. Most of my visitors are parents with elementary-aged children.

IMG_5528 copyFor Visitors: I cannot control what other people leave in my library. Please, PLEASE visit with your child and help them pick out APPROPRIATE books for their reading age and level. True story: I had a 4th grader take a book that was meant for the high school crowd. Her mom had her bring the book back, and let me know the book was inappropriate. While I agree that the book was inappropriate for that child, it would not be considered inappropriate for all readers. Use your own parenting judgement when allowing your children to pick books from a Little Free Library.

Hands down, the Little Free Library is the coolest thing on our block! Our neighbors love it, our friends love it, and we love it! If you’re in Liberty, stop by and visit us sometime! Or, if Liberty is not in your neck of the woods, consider becoming a steward of your own Little Free Library. You won’t regret it!

Note: In addition to supplies to construct the library, Kansas City Moms Blog received samples from Alpha-Bits in exchange for writing this post. Opinions are my own.

Cali
I'm Cali. I'm a wife, co-parent, and mom of twin boys who are soon-to-be 6, as well as brand new step-mom to 3 young adults who are 19, 16, and 14. I was born and raised in the Northland, and I can't imagine living anywhere else...unless you were to offer me a beach house, or a villa on the coast of Italy or France. I have been a public educator for 21 years, and I currently teach middle school, which I truly believe is the very best age in all the world. I enjoy reading, cooking, and traveling, and I believe ice cream is an acceptable meal any time of the day. I drink entirely too much diet coke, and my floors are rarely clean. I joined the mommy-club later in life after an 8 year struggle with infertility. I've decided being an "old mom" is a pretty great gig.