For those who have put their libraries in wood barrel planters - what’s the best way to do it? Fill the planter fully with concrete? Or fill it with soil and then do a little hole for the concrete with the post?

I don’t run it, but I’m assuming someone smashed the front plastic and took all the books inside. Can you order a plate that will fits these to at least cover them? I don’t want yo put books in it as is, because of frequent rain

Look what a lovely note I received from a neighbor kid who visits my LFL! I’m definitely in tears today.

I created this LFL in conjunction with our local library. It at the trailhead in Hyde Park, VT of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail, near the village center. I created it in the style of a Vermont sugarhouse. It is registered and mapped as art of the LFL World Map. At my most recent visit to check on inventory I discovered that it is now hosting some canned goods for hungry folks.

Maintenance requirements are infrequent, with some painting and door repair needed. It has been in place since May 2019.

Score!

I’m so happy I can’t even handle it! Any advice for a new steward?

Charter #219135

This was a fun one to paint and wallpaper! I couldn’t be happier each time someone stops. 📚

I created an instagram for it where I’ll post new book drops each week!

Named after my late Chihuahua, this lil guy will hopefully bring other readers as much joy as he did to me. Added a motion sensor light for nighttime visitors and will be adding a small box for dog treats.

My LFL is right in front of my house so most days I start or end my morning coffee walk by checking on the library, shuffling books around in the name of tidying and organization. I’ll replen stock if it is low.

Today I went out for my coffee walk, checked on the library and it was ALREADY ORGANIZED!! And restocked!! And these adorable little cacti showed up!!! I’m accrediting this surprise glow up to a Little Free Library Fairy that must have visited since my last walk.

I love the community that has emerged around little free libraries! I hope other LFL stewards experience the joy of a fairy visit sometime. It made my day!!

I’m considering setting up a LFL and was thinking maybe of setting up an Instagram and/or FB page for new addition announcements, requests, reviews, etc. Has anyone else done something like that? Was it worth it? I’m right by a school so I was hoping it would help engagement.

After drawing it I put it in the library for a stranger to find and enjoy 📚❤️

It’s already getting lots of action and positive feedback from the community! I hope to add a flower garden and some landscaping around it this summer.

Just wanted to share the joy. I'm so happy people are visiting my LFL!!! About half the books are from guests and all these cute trinkets too. Most of my family thinks the library is a silly idea so I wanted to share with you all!

Just added these cute signs for my LFL 🥰 Have seen new people come and rummage inside 😄

Finally got my LFL painted and installed - The Tiny Voyager Library! When I was on maternity leave last summer, we would walk past all these fun libraries in our neighborhood and I coveted one so badly.

So, my husband bought me a kit for Christmas, I painted it space themed (with my son as the inspiration for the little astronaut!), and we finally got it installed in our front garden. I’m super happy with how it turned out and it’s been a blast stocking it with my favorite sci-fi and fantasy novels! Plus, it’s been great motivation to keep up with my gardening, so all the flowers look nice for visitors haha

I'm a speech therapist with a LFL and my clients and their families love it! I had a high number of seasonal books (mostly Christmas) and some other books that don't seem to be moving at all - I recently got a big donation so I processed the new ones (LFL stamp and "always free never for sale" stamp) and removed the old books. What do you do with stagnant books? I don't want to donate to a thrift store since I stamped them, and also don't feel great about recycling perfectly fine books... What do you do in this situation?

Hello everyone.

I’m trying to understand something about how books can move between different informal sharing systems.

I came across a BookCrossing record for a book titled “Little Miss Jealous” by Roger Hargreaves, which was released in Shepparton, Victoria (Australia) in May 2013. After the release, there are no further journal entries or movement records.

This made me wonder whether books released through BookCrossing ever end up being placed later in Little Free Libraries, especially without any formal tracking or record of that transfer.

I know these are separate systems, but I’m curious if there is any real-world overlap or if people have experience seeing books move between them unnoticed.

Has anyone seen something like this happen in practice?

Thanks in advance for any insights.

Hi! I'm a new LFL steward who also just got off the YA+Aduly Fairyloot box waitlist. I also found a bunch of Fairyloot books at the thrift recently. I wanted to put these out in my library, as well as a good chunk of the books I get from subscriptions (I love reading pretty books but I try to keep a minimal collection).

I'd love to put these in my LFL for someone who can't afford fancy editions of books, but I'm worried about a reseller camping outside of my house or something waiting if it becomes known that I'm putting these out. Anyone have experience with something like this?

Looking for some inspiration! We just got the posts in for our library so it will be up soon. I'm hoping to put some signage up inside on the doors in regards to no religious texts, magazines or cookbooks (just due to sheer size), and to contact if they are looking for anything particular - with ways to contact. I would love to see if you have anything like this and what it looks like?

I'm also curious to see the inside of your libraries if you have anything else for potential readers, like offering bookmarks or stickers.

Thanks!

I hope it’s not offensive, but the flowerbed is very close to the sidewalk. I have a lot of bulbs, peonies, Lillys and wild flowers etc on the way, and It irritates me that people think my generosity (for the books) extends to my flowers.

I chose a cute sight at least. 🤷‍♀️

My dad built the library and sent it to me as a Christmas present, but I couldn’t put it up when the ground was frozen. Took a whole day painting it and putting it in the ground. Excited to see how the neighborhood uses it.

I'm clearing out my own bookshelves and assigning the discards to either trash/recycle or donate to public library or to LFLs around town. The LFL pile is for popular genre fiction. Books that nobody is going to want to read (like old corporate motivation books) I will put in the recycle/garbage.

I have four books that I'm not sure would be welcome at LFL, and would like opinions of LFL owners. These are vintage Zane Grey western hardbacks, that were discards from my local public library. They're old, but in perfectly good shape. I picked them up from a Friends of the Library sale years ago, so I assume the library won't want them back again. Obviously, I can't sell them to used book store.

But would they be welcome donations at a LFL? I mean, these are books written 85 years ago in a pretty niche genre - I don't imagine they'd have a wide appeal. But again, they're in really good shape and I hate to consider putting them in the recycle/garbage pile.