Little Free Library Etiquette

[Anonymous]

We put one up in our cul de sac last year, and there were lots of rules. We had to register and there were specifications for building the structure. I would definitely wait and check on what the neighborhood rules are before going rouge. Ask your HOA if there is one. Or, ask someone you see at the established one.

I don't think two in a small space is too much, but I do caution you to check in to the details before acting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just because a book was bought at a goodwill doesn’t mean they aren’t good, condition or content! However, if you’d like to mix it up we know of one that contains puzzles and I think it’s great! Wish it was close to me, I’d utilize it!

There are ones with PUZZLES?!?! Omg I need to find out where!

I have dreams of having a LFL and also attaching a "treasure box" (aka an additional section) for small toys. I'd love to slowly purge my house of goody bag loot, Happy Meal Toys, duplicate gifts. And before I catch flak about people not wanting my junk, I assure you my own kids would be thrilled to encounter such "junk" when out for a walk, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t. They are cool in theory. But in my experience, are lame. In wealthy neighborhoods, the families are already going to the regular library weekly at least or are buying plenty of books. In the neighborhoods where kids might not have access to books frequently- they either aren’t used or nothing gets replaced. Even in the neighborhoods were they are used, the replacements are not good books. They are the cast offs grandma got the kids from Goodwill, free at Dr office, random religious book and so on.

Sometimes people just need to accept that you can recycle and throw away books because nobody wants them. Goodwill and lots of other thrift stores dump books all the time because people don't want them either

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just because a book was bought at a goodwill doesn’t mean they aren’t good, condition or content! However, if you’d like to mix it up we know of one that contains puzzles and I think it’s great! Wish it was close to me, I’d utilize it!

There are ones with PUZZLES?!?! Omg I need to find out where!

I have dreams of having a LFL and also attaching a "treasure box" (aka an additional section) for small toys. I'd love to slowly purge my house of goody bag loot, Happy Meal Toys, duplicate gifts. And before I catch flak about people not wanting my junk, I assure you my own kids would be thrilled to encounter such "junk" when out for a walk, etc.

I can assure you that I would happily dump all of our crappy little toys in there but then my daughter would be desperately returning to the little free toy shop to get more

[Anonymous]

Yes Op it would be

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just because a book was bought at a goodwill doesn’t mean they aren’t good, condition or content! However, if you’d like to mix it up we know of one that contains puzzles and I think it’s great! Wish it was close to me, I’d utilize it!

There are ones with PUZZLES?!?! Omg I need to find out where!

I have dreams of having a LFL and also attaching a "treasure box" (aka an additional section) for small toys. I'd love to slowly purge my house of goody bag loot, Happy Meal Toys, duplicate gifts. And before I catch flak about people not wanting my junk, I assure you my own kids would be thrilled to encounter such "junk" when out for a walk, etc.

I have seen things like Madlibs and DVDs in our box.,,even without specific instructions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i love LFL. Especially when they are a little miniature of the person's house. Maybe I am missing something, but I don't know why it would be bad to have two close together?

Yep we have multiple close ones in my neighborhood and not a problem.

[Anonymous]

If I were in your neighborhood I would love a second LFL and anybody that actually cares about spreading reading to their community wouldn’t be offended but delighted at another one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just because a book was bought at a goodwill doesn’t mean they aren’t good, condition or content! However, if you’d like to mix it up we know of one that contains puzzles and I think it’s great! Wish it was close to me, I’d utilize it!

There are ones with PUZZLES?!?! Omg I need to find out where!

I have dreams of having a LFL and also attaching a "treasure box" (aka an additional section) for small toys. I'd love to slowly purge my house of goody bag loot, Happy Meal Toys, duplicate gifts. And before I catch flak about people not wanting my junk, I assure you my own kids would be thrilled to encounter such "junk" when out for a walk, etc.

I can assure you that I would happily dump all of our crappy little toys in there but then my daughter would be desperately returning to the little free toy shop to get more

Same here LOL

[Anonymous]

One of our neighbors has a seed library.

[Anonymous]

I really love the variety in having multiple LFL. The ones that are a bit curated are super fun - ex: there was one in Del Ray in a mini fridge that had separate sections for fiction, non fiction and kids books; and were organized within each category. I don’t think they all need to be managed that closely, but we stopped by more often as it was. I’ve seen ones dedicated to cookbooks too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just because a book was bought at a goodwill doesn’t mean they aren’t good, condition or content! However, if you’d like to mix it up we know of one that contains puzzles and I think it’s great! Wish it was close to me, I’d utilize it!

There are ones with PUZZLES?!?! Omg I need to find out where!

There's one in Hill East. See the first item listed in this article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/tips/little-free-libraries-travel-outdoors/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just because a book was bought at a goodwill doesn’t mean they aren’t good, condition or content! However, if you’d like to mix it up we know of one that contains puzzles and I think it’s great! Wish it was close to me, I’d utilize it!

There are ones with PUZZLES?!?! Omg I need to find out where!

I have dreams of having a LFL and also attaching a "treasure box" (aka an additional section) for small toys. I'd love to slowly purge my house of goody bag loot, Happy Meal Toys, duplicate gifts. And before I catch flak about people not wanting my junk, I assure you my own kids would be thrilled to encounter such "junk" when out for a walk, etc.

PP, there is someone in my neighborhood who leaves those types of things along our walking trails--on tree stumps, hidden in knotholes, etc.

My kids are older now, so they don't care about the things themselves, but still love trying to spot them. And given that there seems to be regular turnover of the toys, plenty of kids seem to take one/leave one. It's pretty cute.

[Anonymous]

Just want to echo the post about having an LFL that specializes in certain genres or types of books. There's a bus stop outside my house, so I try to keep my LFL stocked with middle grade and young adult books. I don't have kids, so I try to get books at library sales, online book outlet sites, and McKays.

If you specialize in a genre or age group, it doesn't put you in competition with the neighbor. You might even collaborate so you can swap when people drop off books that aren't right for your LFLs.

It also might cut down on people dropping religious pamphlets and self-help books.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t do it with one 3 houses away.