Sharing Libraries

Dear Readers,

Can you imagine if you found this little library waiting for you when you got to the beach?  Oh happy day even if I brought I book I would find myself browsing the shelves just so see what others had left on the shelves.

I have seen pictures of more and more of these "sharing" libraries popping up everywhere.  We had one just down the street from our old house.  The lady that lived there loved to share her books with anyone who was interested and she found it a wonderful way to connect with her neighbors.  She lived on a very busy bike path and she was surprised by how many people stopped and at least looked at the books.

Some will take a book and return it later, others have taken one book while leaving a completely different one and still other, well there are some books she has never seen again.  But she doesn't care as that was point of the library, letting others read her books. 

She has talked to people who have stopped that were on a bike trip.  They had been riding for several days across and around Michigan and just happened to take the section of bike trail that went past her house.  They were so excited to see the little sharing library that they stopped to browse, my friend went out to greet them and ended up inviting them in for lunch.  It was such a unique experience and made all the work to make sure the books stay dry and safe all year round worth it. 

Last I heard she and her husband have actually made her little sharing library bigger as more and more people continue to stop by.  She is excited that something so small can have such a big impact on her neighborhood.  But we all know that books are like that all the time.

Happy Reading (and sharing),