Thursday Thirteen 370: Little Free Libraries, Part One

I saw my first Little Free Library about five years ago, in front of a local community center. Since then, I've noticed them popping up in neighborhoods around the city. In August 2013, I was walking following a route through my neighborhood I had not taken in months (having defected to the nearby bike path), when I discovered a LFL had been installed. Of course I had to stop and examine its contents, and found a book I wanted to read. The following week I returned with a donation of half a dozen books.

Last July upon returning from an arboretum walk, I saw that a second LFL had been installed in my neighborhood, this one at one of the local parks. I try to hit each of them every few weeks, not only to see if anything interesting has been left, but to help restock. So far I've managed to get rid of an entire box of books, and am working on a second I had to donate. My one regret is that I don’t have children’s books to leave at the one by the park. Sometimes I will pick up a couple at the library used book sale for our LFL.

Not familiar with the Little Free Library concept? Here are a few facts:



01. The Little Free Library movement got its start in 2009 in Hudson, Wisconsin, when Todd Bol placed a small box in front of his house.

02. Decorated to resemble a one-room schoolhouse, the first LFL contained about a dozen books free for the taking. The box was a tribute to Bol's mother, a former teacher and book lover who had died several years earlier.

03. When Rick Brooks — an instructor specializing in youth and community development at the UW-Madison Division of Continuing Studies — saw Bol's Little Free Library, he immediately recognized the potential to promote literacy and build communities.

04. Brooks and Bol teamed up to build several more of the boxes, christening the project Little Free Library. Their first LFL was placed beside a bike path behind Absolutely Art Gallery and Café Zoma on the east side of Madison, Wisconsin.

05. People not only saw this novel concept, but wanted one of their own, resulting in numerous requests for more. They began to crop up in communities across Wisconsin by the dozens, and then spread across the United States.

06. Today there are thousands of Little Free Libraries across the USA and the world. Do a search on Pinterest, and you will find hundreds of photos of Little Free Libraries. (And yes, that includes a folder by me!)

07. The Little Free Library concept is simple: take a book, leave a book. There are no due dates, late fees, or library cards required, and the doors are open 24/7.

08. Those who sponsor a Little Free Library are known as stewards, and are responsible for the upkeep of the box. Most LFL's are in peoples’ front yards, while others may be at a school, church, park, or popular neighborhood business.

09. Stewards can build their own box, or can order a kit in one of several designs from the LFL website.

10. Many Little Free Libraries are your basic box with a roof and Plexiglas windows, but some stewards get quite creative. Some people have repurposed old newspaper stands, dollhouses, or come up with their own concept based on a favorite book or character, such as a tardis, tornado funnel, robot, or lighthouse. Others choose to creatively paint, stencil, or decorate a simple box.

11. Some communities regulate Little Free Libraries, requiring stewards to gain permission from the city/town before installing a LFL, even on their own property.

12. Sadly, there have been reports of some communities ordering people to remove a Little Free Library on their property, but thankfully that is not the norm, with most towns choosing to promote literacy.

13. Don’t know if there is a LFL in your area? Visit the LFL website to find out, or to see how you can become a part of this growing literary phenomenon.


Do you have a Little Free Library in your neighborhood or town? Have you ever used one?



LINKING TO: Thursday Thirteen

Thursday Thirteen 146: Reading Stats

Since March is National Reading Month, how about a few statistics on reading and literacy. Some of these facts are a bit scary, and some may surprise you.

* 46% of American adults cannot understand the label on their prescription medicine.

* 50 percent of American adults are unable to read an eighth grade level book.

* More than 20 percent of adults read at or below a fifth-grade level - far below the level needed to earn a living wage.

* Forty-four percent of American 4th grade students cannot read fluently, even when they read grade-level stories aloud under supportive testing conditions.

* More than three out of four of those on welfare, 85% of unwed mothers and 68% of those arrested are illiterate. About three in five of America's prison inmates are illiterate.

* It is estimated that the cost of illiteracy to business and the taxpayer is $20 billion per year.

* Out-of-school reading habits of students has shown that even 15 minutes a day of independent reading can expose students to more than a million words of text in a year.

* Babies as young as 9 months have the ability to read. This is a natural and essential part of development. In 1999, only 53 percent of children aged 3 to 5 were read to daily by a family member. Children in families with incomes below the poverty line are less likely to be read aloud to everyday than are children in families with incomes at or above the poverty line.

* Numerous infant studies prove that the earlier a child learns to read, the better they perform in school and later in life.

* Children who have not developed some basic literacy skills by the time they enter school are 3 to 4 times more likely to drop out in later years. Disadvantaged students in the first grade have a vocabulary that is approximately half that of an advantaged student (2,900 and 5,800 respectively).

* 21 million Americans can't read at all, 45 million are marginally illiterate and one-fifth of high school graduates can't read their diplomas.

* 15 percent of the population has specific reading disorders. Of these 15 percent as many as 1/3 may show change in the brain structure. Dyslexia affects one out of every five children - ten million in America alone.

* Over 50% of NASA employees are dyslexic. They are deliberately sought after because they have superb problem solving skills and excellent 3D and spatial awareness.


Find more facts here.



LINKS TO OTHER THURSDAY THIRTEENS:
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Adelle Laudan * Mary Quast * Tracie * Alice Audrey
Alexia Reed * Stephanie Adkins * Colleen * Shelley Munro
Hazel * Melissa Mashburn * Jennifer McKenzie * Desi
Elise Logan * Harriet * Sophia Parkwood * Janice Seagraves
Sasha Devlin * Tatiana Caldwell * Jeanne St James * Paige Tyler
Jehara * Inez * Megan Rose * A. Catherine Noon * Ms Menozzi


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