When a librarian has a 110-year-old tree stump near her home, she turns it into a library.
The librarian Sharalee Armitage Howard works at the Idaho Coeur d’Alene Public Library and when an aging cottonwood tree started to rot and was planned for cutting due to safety, she knew she had to do something about it.
Today, Howard has a Little Free Library where her neighbors and the community can take a book for free and leave one from them.
The Little Free Library, a Non-Profit that Nourishes the Love of Reading
Little Free Library is a non-profit that helps spread the love of reading in the community and encourages people to exchange books. In fact, there are more than 75,000 registered Little Free Libraries in 88 countries globally, each with its own magic.
After Howard shared her project on Facebook, it received overwhelming support from people who were amazed by the creative use of the tree’s space.
Howard’s Tree Library has everything you need: a glass door, stone steps, and cozy exterior and interior lighting. Above the doorway, dentils in the form of tiny books recall some of the classics like The Grapes of Wrath and the Call of the Wild.
Everyone Can Make their Own Little Free Library
Even if you’re not anywhere near Idaho, you may still have a Little Free Library nearby. Their Instagram shows some of their unique libraries throughout the world and also has a map where you can check if there’s one near you.
If you want to build your own Little Free Library, the non-profit offers tips on how to build your own and they also sell pre-fabricated kits. Really, we seem to have no excuse for not reading, right?
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