I think tiny librariest are adorable. You know the ones. They are scattered through small towns, on people's front lawns, in parks. They look like houses for Keebler Elves, but better than cookies with chocolate in them (Wait, what? There's something BETTER than cookies with chocolate in them???), they are filled with used books. Not new books, but used books. Books that have been loved and are now being passed on. It's a safer and nicer way than leaving a book on a park bench with a Post-It note that says, "Read Me!", but essentially it's the same thing, minus a drenched cover from the rain.
Confession time...I've never taken a free book from a tiny library, nor have I left one, but that doesn't stop me from loving the idea of them and looking at them whenever I see one. I guess I feel that since I'm fortunate enough to be able to buy a book or get one from my library, that I want to leave those books for those who can't. Maybe there's an older gentleman who has no transportation any more and doesn't know how to use the internet, but the tiny library is at the end of his street. I'd hate to take the latest Clancy from him. Or maybe there's a little girl whose parents work shifts that don't allow for library visits, but she can ride her bike to the park and find a book in an Elf's house (doesn't that sound magical?)
I'm going to challenge myself though and start putting some of my already books in those little libraries. I usually drop them off at Goodwill or at the local used book store for credit, but I think this summer, I'm going to take a day in search of these fairy abodes and make some donations, and maybe I'll even add a written note into them, explaining what the book meant to me. Hey, why don't you do the same, and spread the love of reading as the sun is beginning to shine and summer is on its way.
We are almost post- pandemic...everyone could use some good words to read!
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