“Take a Book, Leave a Book”

By Emily Hamilton

One Lubbock family is giving back to the community through a unique public service right in their front yard.

Linda Jones read about the Little Free Library organization in a magazine and knew she had to become a part of the movement. Jones, a former librarian, said she was thrilled at the idea of an innovative way of encouraging a passion for reading.

Little Free Library is an organization focused on promoting literacy and the love of reading through free book exchanges. The phrase “take a book and leave a book” has become the unofficial slogan of the mini-libraries.

The organization began in 2009, when a Wisconsin man built the first known Little Free Library as a tribute to his mother. According to the organization’s website, as of January 2016, over 36,000 registered Little Free Libraries have been built.

Jones’s husband, Jeff Lee, worked diligently to build Jones her own box of books as an anniversary gift. The couple, who lives in a subdivision close to the Texas Tech University campus, said a variety of people live in the neighborhood.

The couple’s daughter, Charlotte Lee Stockton, said the library, which has existed for four years, has given her parents the opportunity to meet more of their neighbors.

“It was a good idea to put it out front where we have a neighborhood full of families, young kids and college students,” Stockton said.

Stockton said she looks through the library often, always finding something new to read.

“It’s always so interesting to see what people leave behind and what people are picking up,” Stockton said.

Allie Kiefer, a senior marketing major at Texas Tech, said she lives down the street from the Little Free Library, and often sees people stopping by to exchange books on their evening walks.

“They’re obviously a very friendly family, to build something like this in their front yard, and I think it’s a really neat thing to do for the community,” Kiefer said.

Little Free Library has created an interactive map, allowing people to find registered libraries near them. The map shows five such libraries in Lubbock, not including Jones’s.

To view more creative works of “Little Free Library” and those who build them, search the hashtag #LittleFreeLibrary on Instagram or Twitter.