One day this summer the boys came home from a bike ride and both of them had a book in their hands. I asked where the books came from and they told me they found a “Secret Library” down the street. We’ve lived here for 10 years and I’d never seen or heard about a Secret Library. I thought maybe the boys found a box of free books on the side of the road, or there was someone passing out free books?! So I asked the boys to show me where it was. We took a short bike ride through the neighborhood and wouldn’t you know…there was, in fact, a Library on the side of the road! I’m not so sure it’s meant to be a “Secret” per say, but to two young boys who stumble across it while out on a bike ride that’s exactly what it was to them. All summer long they took several trips down to the little library and delighted in selecting books from the stash and returning them all using the good faith system. This fall has been unusually warm so they continue to visit the Secret Library and have asked that we contribute some kid’s books as they’ve made their way through most of what’s available. Ha!
Of course, I was intrigued by their find so I came home and did a little research to see what this little library was all about . I discovered that the library was built as part of the Little Free Library program which was started as a way to promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide and
to build a sense of community. As part of the program you can order a variety of “libraries” built by local artisans using repurposed materials. You can choose a fully finished model or you can choose an unfinished model that you can finish yourself. It got me thinking about how fun this would be for us to do at some point in our lives. With as much as I love to read and with the collection of books we have here in our home, I think this would be a great project!
Today’s “Secret Library” lunch includes: nitrite free turkey sandwich with white American cheese accents, strawberries/blueberries, cucumbers, almond flour brownie
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing
That is really neat! By the way, what sugar did you use in the brownies?
Hi Kathy- I use organic Eyrthritol as a sweetener in most of my recipes. I prefer the brands Swerve or Wholesome Sweetner Zero.
I LOVE this!! Such a lovely lunch and your picuture are just beautiful!
Jamie, you always have such great posts! I have seen the Free Little Library next to our hospital/clinic but didn’t realize they were so many in our area, let alone all over the world! They are such a great idea! In fact just yesterday as I walked past the one at the clinic I thought to myself I should bring some of my books here to share instead of letting them collect dust on my shelves! I noticed my hometown does not have any and now want to make it a project for our family to put one there!
What a terrific idea!! I love it! I wonder if we have something like that here in Ottawa CANADA that I don’t know about.
I have discovered the Little Free Library couple of months ago. I am living in Europe and I don’t have found similar concept here. Since then I am trying to find how I could start to set up Little Free Library around our place. The challenge I face is in the country I am living we speak many different languages, so it should include books from all those languages to be a success… I just love this idea of sharing and exchanging!
This is so awesome!
Love your post on our little free library! Let the boys know it has been restocked for the summer!