As educators, my parents always encouraged me to read books. I read books to learn, to grow, to not feel alone but also to escape. Most importantly, I learned to imagine, to dream and to dare to reach for the impossible. I have gained wisdom from every word on every page of every book I read from childhood to adulthood.

 

From learning the alphabet and learning about everything we saw, heard, smelled and felt, we were prepared about our surroundings from books. From “Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret”, I learned about being a teenage girl. From the “The Phantom Tollbooth”, I learned what a dodecahedron was and admittedly, I have loved saying dodecahedron since. From “Where The Red Fern Grows”, I learned about the depth of loyalty and love animals have for their human companions and their own. From “Romeo and Juliet”, I learned about love, pettiness and consequences. Through books, I have “lived” through others triumphs, defeats, loves and tragedies. They have made me stronger and wiser in mind, kinder and understanding at heart and more empathetic in soul.

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I will always need to have books in my home. I will always long for the sound of a turning page and the smell of the book binding, its pages and print. With so many libraries receiving less and less funding and ongoing worldwide gap in literacy from one neighborhood to another, I was excited to find out about LITTLE FREE LIBRARY. I remember seeing these little birdhouse looking structures in front yards of homes and was always curious about them, but never really did any investigating until October 2014 when I started working in Palo Alto, CA.

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During one of our office team’s neighborhood walks, I happened upon a Little Free Library and took a peek. When I discovered the purpose of the structure, I fell in love with the idea and have always wanted to put up a structure in my front yard. For those of you who are not familiar with Little Free Library, it “is a nonprofit organization that inspires a love of reading, builds community, and sparks creativity by fostering neighborhood book exchanges around the world. Through Little Free Libraries, millions of books are exchanged each year, profoundly increasing access to books for readers of all ages and backgrounds.”

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After many years of thinking about it, my husband and I finally took action, contacted the organization, put it some orders and put up our own Little Free Library. We hope you can come visit us some time. 

Take a book. Leave a book. Always a gift. Never for sale.