Comments
By purplejacket 2026-03-024:072 reply I had my handyman build one of these in front of our house. Also, I make a hobby of biking around to circulate books between different little free libraries in my extended neighborhood. I've found some amazing books over the years, things that were very different from my typical prior experience of books. I like this aspect, that it can be eye opening. Each little free library has it's own style of books. Some are better at handling magazines. Some see a lot of book movement, some much less. These factors influence how I move books around from one to another.
Suggestions on building a little free library: 1) By far the number one priority: Waterproof. If it's not waterproof, in my opinion you're actually doing a disservice to the community, rather than a service. And have an angled roof for proper drainage. 2) Don't make it too deep. Definitely not more than 18 inches. Probably 15 inches is a good depth. 3) If you can, make two levels: One level for tall books, another level for short books. 4) Don't make it too tiny, because then it's hard to get books in and out of. 5) A good solid stand so it doesn't fall over. 6) A good latch that will resist wind. Magnetic is good. I also like to have a magnet plus a hook that can be used for backup. Also with time it's nice to have the second option in case the shape changes a little and the magnet doesn't work. 7) You might try making a mockup out of cardboard so you can see the physical size and get a sense of how many books will fit. 8) Not a building tip, but: Try to arrange the books to look nice. If you have few books you can face some of them to attract attention.
By alexdbird 2026-03-029:03 Definitely don't make it too shallow either. People are forever jamming oversize books in ours and damaging the doors/hinges/catch.
By SoleilAbsolu 2026-03-0319:20 Great points - a Little Library near me has become more of a dumping ground than it used to be because when they re-did it, they replaced the clear plastic window with a frosted/corrugated plastic (you can't see what's in it without opening the door), and they replaced the hook latch with a chain one that lets rain get in.
By not_the_fda 2026-03-022:544 reply I build these and have one at my house.
Its been interesting.
Had some teenagers try to blow it up with fireworks.
Have to constantly remove proselytizing, mostly christian, pamphlets from it.
Had to buy a stamp https://littlefreelibrary.myshopify.com/products/self-inking... so drug addicts don't clear it out sell the books to buy smack.
Other than hat its been mostly self sustaining.
By pickleglitch 2026-03-0215:00 There's a little neighborhood park where I live, just down the street, where there have been 2 attempts to setup one of these. The first one was poorly constructed and the door fell off after just a couple of weeks. The second one I think the neighborhood kids broke on purpose. This, of course, after taking the books out and lighting them on fire for fun. There were charred pages all over for days. We're lucky they didn't catch the brush, of which there is plenty, on fire.
I've considered trying to build one myself, but I know it would just end up the same way.
By wccrawford 2026-03-0213:041 reply My wife wanted one of these so bad that she fought the HOA on it to install one. It's been better than you describe, but yeah... Pamphlets, stolen books, etc. And we know they were "stolen" because if all the good books disappear at once and never return, you know someone stole them.
I've considered getting a stamp... But just haven't bothered yet. If the thefts start to really bother my wife, I'll get one.
She gets a ton of joy from seeing kids use it. And that's what really matters.
I don't understand the meaning of the word "stolen" in this context.
I've never seen a LFL with explicit rules on who can or cannot take out the books, or what they're allowed to do with the books afterward.
If someone sees "all the good books," are they not allowed to want all the good books? What if they take them and don't get around to reading them, are they stealing them?
I understand that there's a potential tragedy of the commons with a LFL, but if I put some of my books in one, am not going to worry about whether they're being read the "right" way. Mostly I'm happy to have had a place to donate my books, and figure there's a non-zero chance they'll be read again.
By eudamoniac 2026-03-0214:571 reply It means taken with the intent to resell, not to read.
Sure, but how do you honestly know that? Is it based on the profile of the person you see looking through them? Some people don't look like they should be readers? Or the fact that the "good ones" -- the ones that people presumably want to read -- get taken?
I guess I'm happier not getting angry over things that I don't know for sure, I'm happier generally assuming the best of my neighbors, and I accept that the books are out of my control once I drop them off at the library.
By eudamoniac 2026-03-0216:561 reply Well first of all if thirty books disappear in one day, that's probably an inorganic usage. If none of them ever reappear, that's another indicator. And then if the person you see taking thirty books is dressed in rags with a shopping cart, you can be pretty confident.
Or maybe OP just means that none of them ever return; it's supposed to be a LF Library after all, not a LF bookshelf.
Huh, I've literally never heard of someone before thinking it's supposed to be a library that you return books to. Must be different attitudes in different places. I've always seen people treat it as a swap-shop. Take some books you want, and some other day drop off some books you want to give away.
By wccrawford 2026-03-0323:02 Both are okay. Returning or just keeping, as long as you aren't excessive. You aren't supposed to just take all the "good" ones, no matter if you're keeping or selling.
And there's an unspoken rule that you should probably give back, too. It's a community good, not a charity.
I don't understand how it's bad to pirate a book, but fine to freely give one away. Both deprive the author of a sale. Either they should both be allowed or both be prohibited.
Same reason you're allowed to gift your gold watch to someone, or sell your car.
Both of them do potentially deprive the creator of a sale, but they keep the same total number of things in circulation.
Sure, you can argue that philosophically it comes to the same thing, but the problem is that, if you win that argument, the powers that be are more likely to ban giving away things you own than they are to allow piracy...
By gosub100 2026-03-0421:53 Interesting idea, but isn't the value of a book derived from the entertainment or reference usage? If I enjoy a story, the transaction is complete. I paid my money, got my product, consumed it , and now I can get another. If I transfer it to someone, the content is potentially consumed twice, but only one payment was made to the author. "Can't have your cake and eat it too - except for books"
Drug addicts mess with them in most of the states I have been to, including Oregon, Washington, California, Maryland and New York.
By lukan 2026-03-029:28 Ah man, even my hometown in germany, which I consider to have a big drug problem - somehow manages to have these libaries(usually in old telephone cells) without junkies clearing them out. Apparently things can be worse it seems, what a shame.
By owenversteeg 2026-03-033:39 Interesting. In New Hampshire and Vermont they seem to be mostly fine (if usually full of very bland romance books.) In the Netherlands there is a broader selection of books in my experience but they are more often vandalized / emptied.
By PacificSpecific 2026-03-027:041 reply Did the stamp work out?
By PacificSpecific 2026-03-0214:051 reply It says in the OP's link. I was just wondering if book buyers respected the stamp and furthermore if the people stealing the books recognize it enough to be deterred.
By not_the_fda 2026-03-073:531 reply Yes the places that buy used books respect the stamp. They usually take all the books and take them to some place Half Priced Books https://www.hpb.com/ for some quick cash.
Places like that won't buy them if they are stamped.
They could try selling them on Amazon or E-Bay, but that's too much effort for quick cash to get a fix.
By PacificSpecific 2026-03-089:09 Thanks very much for the info. I'm building one now in a city with a fairly rough drug problem and I had no idea the stamp existed.
Saw one of these at an Airbnb I rented in Bernal Heights for my parents to stay a few years ago. Neat little Mathematics textbook I used to teach my wife a little of this stuff. They're a loud signal of the neighbourhood. This one had some fun textbooks and romance books but in less nice parts of the city the ones I have seen are usually empty. Presumably, they are subject to the universal law I'm familiar with from the India of my childhood that anything that can be converted to money (no matter how lossy the mechanism) will be so converted.
I like the idea and books aren't something I value holding once I've read them so we put some sci-fi in back along with the textbook.
Amusingly, I saw them in the news a few years later under absolutely hilarious circumstances when the WSJ reported[0] that SF was fining some homeowners $1400 for a Little Free Library they'd placed outside their home after a neighbour complained. It seems to have had a happy ending with those people chasing it down till an ordinance was passed[1] permitting these.
0: https://www.wsj.com/articles/san-francisco-fights-urban-diso...
1: https://littlefreelibrary.org/2024/02/san-francisco-stewards...
By lelandfe 2026-03-0212:27 Gosh, and what a cute one too! This is what a community is all about, ghastly to complain about this.
