Last week, during my regular lunchtime walk, I stopped at a little lending library outside one of the old beautiful limestone homes that grace this area.
I don't always stop when I see little lending libraries, but sometimes I do. I looked inside and saw more than 50 packets of seeds in addition to the regular array of books.
I decided to help myself to some watermelon and malva seeds and found two books on my reading wish list: The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein and The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny.
Next week I'll replenish my neighbour's little lending library with a couple of books from my own bookcase I've read.
The origins of the original Little Free Library begain in 2009 when a Wisconsin fellow by the name of Todd Bol built a model of a one-room schoolhouse and put it on a post on his front yard and filled it with books with a sign, "Take a book, share a book" .
He built more, and soon it became a movement with others doing the same. According to littlefreelibrary.org, today there are more than 150,000 registered little free lending libraries in the world. There's even a mobile app so you can find the one nearest you. In many communities, little lending food pantries have appeared, stocking canned goods or even fresh vegetables from people's gardens.
The story of the little lending library that could is a tale of inspiration and hope. It embodies all that is good in a world where sometimes it's hard to see the good: people helping others and their community through an action as small as sharing a book or a packet of seeds.
This week's #HappyAct is to take a book or share a book. If you're really ambitious and want to build your own, check out these 10 designs from familyhandyman.com.
Photos: I didn't have my phone with me during my walk, but here's a picture of a little lending library we visit in Clark's Summit, Pennsylvania on our trips down south. Above: my treasures from my latest haul from my little lending library near my work.
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