Without reservation, I enjoy visiting Little Free Library boxes in and around my own hometown. I even peek into them sometimes when I am traveling. I love the idea of passing a book I’ve read along for someone else to enjoy, and it’s fun to pick out another one to dig into.
You're probably familiar with these. They are little take-a-book, share-a-book stations that can be found in neighborhoods, village downtowns, school entries, and plenty of other spots.
Santa, are you listening? I’d be pleased to set up such a station outside my own home, so neighbors and friends could swap books easily. This one is really neat, with an appealing design and plenty of room inside. There's also a smaller one that resembles an old English photo booth, although I'd probably fill that in an instant with all the books I could pass along. And there's a handy compact double-decker version, although it looks a bit like an outhouse to me. (Hey, if you've even been to camp, you know.)
MITE-y annoying surprise.
First, it was the book bugs. I grabbed a paperback mystery a while ago and headed home with it. I settled into a chair on my patio, enjoying a mild summer evening, and cracked open the new (passed-along) book. Almost immediately, I literally felt my skin crawling, as tiny mites escaped from between the pages. (I've heard of bookworms, but this was something altogether different.)
Getting ANTsy about a new read.
On another occasion, I placed a trio of paperbacks into another Little Free Library box in our town. Delighted to find a fairly new title I’d been hoping to read, I pulled a book out of the box and began flipping through the pages. That’s when I noticed dozens of tiny ants crawling all over the inside of the book.
WASP up with that?
More recently, I visited still another Little Free Library near my home. Clearing out my own bookshelf, I went and piled a few volumes inside the book box. I noticed the contents seemed to be randomly tossed into there, so I began straightening up the proffered collection.
I won't give up on Little Free Libraries.
I am still visiting such book swapping sites these days, but I have learned to look closely before digging around for books to read. And I examine those quite carefully, especially the ones that appear to be well worn or water-damaged. If I really want such a book, I place it in a zippered plastic bag and freeze it for a day or two, hoping to do away with any mold or creepy crawlies.
Book mites and ants and wasps, oh my!
I guess it takes a bit more effort to host a Little Free Library than simply setting up the box and filling it with books to share.
Related Items:
- How to start your own neighborhood watch program
- Late Library Books and Super Fine
- R is for Recycling Resilient Reads
- Ripped off at the thrift store!
Image/s: Wasp nest – public domain photo, Others - LAN personal photo/s
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. It’s a compilation of
articles by several well-known evangelicals (Stuart and Jill Briscoe, Tony
Campolo, Bill and Lynne Hybels, John and Nancy Ortberg, Ron Sider, and more),
discussing women in leadership in Christian ministry. 
