Little Free Library

A red, five-foot tall box is Lexington, Oklahoma’s, version of a huge public library. Inside are about 50 books for young and old readers.

“They’re the property of the city,” said Lisa Hadley, a Public Works Clerk.

Lexington couldn’t afford to build a full-scale library, so when Hadley saw a story on the Little Free Library on television she ran to her boss.

“She brought it in and said you’re not going to believe what I’ve seen,” said Charlie McCown, Lexington’s City Manager.

Hadley says the town kept costs to a minimum by doing some dumpster diving for scrap materials to build the boxes.  A book drive helped build a stock of old and new books.  Lexington opened its first Little Free Library inside City Hall.

“It was such a positive thing in the neighborhood,” McCown said. “Everybody came in and said tell us more about this.”

Now with 8 libraries scattered around town, the idea continues to grow.

“I couldn’t tell you who uses it more, the kids or the senior citizens,” Hadley stated.

Basically, people can take a book for free and replace it with an old one.  12 year old Drake Wells says his friends are hooked.

“There are more opportunities for people to read,” he said.

Lexington changes the books every week so readers have lots of choices.

“I really like Judy B. Jones because she always makes mistakes and spells words wrong,” said Kyleigh Wells, an 8 year old reader.

9 year old Kaytlynn Crawford enjoys series of books like Harry Potter.

Her 5 year old brother, Zaine Crawford, enjoys Dr. Seuss.

"Because they have rhyming words and they’re weird,” he said.

The Little Free Library is the brain child of Todd Bol. He built the first one in honor of his mother.  His idea has grown from 1 library in 2010 to almost 6,000 in 35 countries.

“We have high schools building them and sending them to Africa,” he said.

Bol says the libraries promote reading and community because they give people a place to gather.

“We’ve been told many times that having a Little Free Library is like having a porch, a front porch that extends to your sidewalk.”

Bol also says the libraries give kids a reason to turn off the video games, step outside, and jump in a good book.  Kaytlynn Crawford agrees.

“The best thing is probably when you take a book and give a book because you’re giving a book that you know, and it’s one of your favorite books,” she said.  “Then you get a new book you haven’t read before!”Little Free Library

Posted: Thursday, March 21 2013, 03:51 PM CDT