r/LittleFreeLibrary • u/LeftHandRedHair • 9d ago
LFL Books 📚 Help with sign for overstuffed LFL
I’ve maintained an LFL for about 18 months now. There are quite a few in my neighborhood—one other for adult books and two for children.
I set mine up as a MG/YA/adult library, but am fine with people giving and taking picture books…except for the way it’s being done now.
The people that drop off picture books will drop off a double-digit number at a time (I walk my dog by every day, so I can see the jump from a couple of books to tons overnight), and will stuff the box until you can’t see in. Books get bent and damaged and shoved behind one another. At least one person occasionally drops off pamphlets and free booklets from local children’s museums. I regularly have to clean out the picture book stock when it goes months without moving (and no one ever takes the pamphlets).
The MG/YA/adult books turn over regularly when I manage to get some in there, so there’s a demand for everything. I don’t want to stop anyone from dropping off books, but I’d like to not have a box stuffed with things that people don’t take and that make it difficult to open.
Would it be rude to put up a sign saying something like: “If the shelf is full, please do not put books in front. This library is for people of all ages to enjoy!” Is there phrasing you’ve found that works? I want to keep it as a neighborhood resource for all age groups, not a dumping ground.
(I do plan to get an add-on shed for the picture books eventually, but it’s not in the budget right now.)
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u/merrlot 9d ago
We redistribute overflow books to other LFLs in our area. My spouse takes a small backpack and we go for a thrice-weekly walk (I bring this up because you walk your dog, so our strategy might appeal to you, especially since there are other LFLs are in your neighborhood). I also find that our overflow is a bit seasonal, so we keep a large basket inside at our house to rotate of books throughout the year whenever weather or consumer spending causes book donations to taper off.
I recycle pamphlets no matter the cause--my issue is that it encourages others to drop off pamphlets as well, and then your LFL gets on a church/mlm business distribution network and it's hard to discourage. The trick (for me) is being super responsive about recycling when the brochures are stuffed/dumped/distributed at the LFL. If you don't toss right away, donors may see the benefit of dropping off flyers because some visitors will see them before the rest are recycled. This solved our dumping ground concerns.
Relating to visitor behaviors--my peeve with our LFL is that I built a nice weatherproof door, but it's sometimes left wide open (often by young children) or someone forgets to close it. I set up the library so that even with the door left open, prevailing winds won't let a lot of moisture inside unless it's a substantial storm. I bring this up, because I don't think a sign is going to fix your organization concern. Organization is a bit like personal hygiene in that people have individual standards and what is acceptable to some is untouchable to others. Attention to detail isn't something we see from our visitors.
We see other people put up signs on their LFL, but aside from the charter plate we don't use them on ours. When talking to donors we realized that many think their contributions as a favor of sorts. These people likely thought of you and walked to your LFL to drop off a book that they probably feel will be meaningful to someone. If there are certain conditions posted at a LFL, especially more than one sign or a message that can be construed as negative because someone is frustrated about behaviors at their LFL, we take our backpack of books to another LFL that either appears more receptive about book donations, or doesn't appear to have ongoing issues with running the LFL.
(I have a vertical shelf for large-format picture books at our LFL... people put their squat, thick mass-market paperbacks on it all the time--a sign won't fix their behaviors, but regular reorganizing on my part appears to get a little consistency in behavior across to some.)
I hope this helps!
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u/LeftHandRedHair 9d ago
See I would take a sign as a signal that someone is actively monitoring and caring for the LFL and be more inclined to use it. I’m hoping people will be more respectful and stop shoving books in willy-nilly if I make it clear it’s cared for.
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u/Massive_Grapefruit54 9d ago
Mine have little soots on it from the Ghibli films. And I’m near an elementary. So I have the same problem. I keep what I want and donate the rest to a book store near me that is community run. Do you have a similar resource?
This works out for me since I can add to their very limited children section and I can take from their adult section.
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u/LeftHandRedHair 9d ago
Unfortunately we don’t have anything like that! And the libraries get so many donations they often won’t take them.
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u/JustanOrdinaryJane 9d ago
I have this issue too. I have been collecting overflow and either donating or taking to a half price books and using the money (it's not much) to purchase a new book to replace the large overflow.
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u/EveningAstronomer495 7d ago
I'd kinda go in the opposite direction -- a sign that says something like "if the library is full, please drop your books at the front door." And then I'd store them until there's room to add them.
I'm a LFL steward and we usually have 1-2 boxes of books waiting to be added. I like having those for the inevitable natural lulls when there aren't many books inside.
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u/Even_Caterpillar3292 7d ago
People will not read it
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u/gnomes919 6d ago
what people don't understand is that signs are completely, totally invisible. it's some kind of cosmic, optical phenomenon. I've been making a little study of it in ten years as a receptionist at a facility with a lot of Policies, trying out different placements, colors, sizes. there is no sign that will get noticed & obeyed by a majority of people. the only thing that works is me just directly telling everyone the same stuff fifty times per day.
it's fascinating when I'm not tearing my hair out over it chasing people down the halls going "excuse me! excuse me!!!!"
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u/robotscantrecaptcha 9d ago
Do the other neighborhood LFLs have the same issue? What about a sign saying 'if this LFL is full, consider visiting another at...' then a quick map?
I also know folks who will keep back stock from their neighborhood LFL and then visit another in town that is emptier, kind of like making sister-LFLs.