Little Free Library Boxes and other Neighhborhood Library Boxes

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Just curious. Do you live in a neighborhood with these nonprofit/neighborhood run library boxes. (Bigger than birdbox/mailboxes) boxes where people leave and take new and used books like a very public library but not affiliated with an city or state library system.

In my neighborhood, there's one on my block and (I haven't officially counted) at least a half dozen or more in a 15 minute walking radius.

Many fall under the Little Free Library. Some may be just started and built by someone living on that street and not officially managed/subsidized(?).

There's a 3 times the usual size one on the block between my office and the law firm we work for. So, they're all of the place.

Do you leave books? Take any books? Or just walk by them with your nose haughtily pointed up in the air?

I've donated to the one on my block (started to donate books here after COVID started - and the Housing Works nonprofit thrift shop stopped taking donations for that COVID period) as well as the one near my workplace.

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View best answer, chosen by tsarstepan

Over here many public phone boxes have been repurposed as mini libraries, they all tend to be rural and I live in a city, so no, not used them.

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@tsarstepan,

´

There's one in our village (and six more all over the whole municipality).
Donate books on a more or less regular basis since years (that box is there since about ten years).

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@izzythepush,

izzythepush wrote:

they all tend to be rural

According to a wikipedia list we've nearly 600 of those boxes in my state.
They are in rural areas as well as in big cities (about 30 in Cologne, for instance).

We've got those library boxesin Germany since the 1990's - and since a few years, we've got special children book boxes as well. (But less than 100 in all Germany until now.)

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@Walter Hinteler,

The one in Alderholt has a defibrillator in it.

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@tsarstepan,

Ours is on a nearby street. I've put my own book in there (hey, free distribution!) Very Happy

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@jespah,

jespah wrote:

Ours is on a nearby street. I've put my own book in there (hey, free distribution!)

Real world spammer! Rolling Eyes

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@tsarstepan,

The little libraries are all over my city, some on lawns, some in public area.

One thing we don't have are phone booths. You will never find one here. Gone, gone, gone, although I think some malls may have a single pay phone in a wall. Does anyone today even know how to use it?

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@Mame,

Mame wrote:

Does anyone today even know how to use it?

I think you have to put money into them.

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There is a little free library in the nearest town which I have donated to and borrowed from. People also leave books in the laundromat. These are both busy book exchange places when the town marina gets busy in the summer. I am trying to think of a pay phone. There is one on the wall of a gas station/convenience store/post office in a small village nearby but I have not checked recently to see if it still works.

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@Tai Chi,

I forgot about the couple of apartment buildings I have lived in. Others would occasionally leave books in the public laundry rooms as well.

And many people leave books on the sidewalk (assuming outside of their houses). Which is a bit lazy as these often get destroyed because of rain and snow (and since we have so many of these library boxes available in our area).

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@tsarstepan,

There are no dedicated book stores here as the towns are so small so lots of places have access to used books. One of the banks has a bookshelf and asks for a donation for a local charity. All the libraries have shelves of discontinued books for sale. One library takes its books to the ferry terminal -- really handy if you are facing a two + hour trip with nothing to read.

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@Tai Chi,

Tai Chi wrote:

One library takes its books to the ferry terminal -- really handy if you are facing a two + hour trip with nothing to read.

That's Neat! Very Happy

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Om the OpenBookCase map, there are currently listed 9238 public book cases.

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Little Free Library Boxes and other Neighhborhood Library Boxes

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