History of the Little Free Library Program

In 2009 Todd Bol came up with an idea to remember his mother, a teacher who had loved books and encouraged people to read. At his home in Hudson, Wisc., he built a box, made it waterproof and filled it with books. It looked like a miniature one-room schoolhouse, with a sign underneath that said “Free Book Exchange.” Bol put it on a post outside of his house and invited neighbors to take a book, and return a book.

That’s when something happened Bol says he never could have imagined.

“People of all ages, men, women, kids came up and just loved the library,” he said. “They got excited and they started coming up to me saying, ‘I’ll build one, do you need books?’” Now there are more than 150,000 registered Little Free Library book exchanges in all 50 U.S. states and over 120 countries around the world.

Visit www.littlefreelibrary.org, for suggestions on how to build your own library.

Locally, funds are available for up to $75 to defray the cost of installing your own Little Free Library. Please email info@iowacityofliterature.org for more information.