Little Free Library is a Midwest-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote literacy and the love of reading by building free neighborhood book exchanges. Today 32,000 Little Free Libraries stand as part of a global phenomenon that keeps gaining momentum. Little Free Libraries now stand in front yards all across the globe - from Iceland to Pakistan to Tasmania - strengthening neighborhoods, spreading literacy and the love of reading, and bringing people together.Â
Todd H. Bol created the very first Little Free Library - a front-yard book exchange - in 2009 to share books with his neighbors. After seeing the community's positive reaction to the miniature library, Bol built 30 more and gave them away to a broad range neighborhoods. The response was so overwhelming that Bol crafted a vision for a community-led grassroots movement.Â
April 2015 marked the achievement of 25,000 Library placements, the launch of The Little Free Library Book, and the announcement to double and deepen Little Free Libraries' impact: Little Free Library plans to achieve 100,000 libraries, with enriched programs, by 2017.
Literacy-Friendly Neighborhoods is a Little Free Library initiative that harnesses the spirit and enthusiasm of Little Free Library stewards and packages it in a way that's meaningful for neighborhoods interested in improving literacy in their own backyards and across the globe.
Over the next 24 months, Little Free Library is traveling the United States and the globe to promote its programs and initiatives and talk about how free access to books will change the cultural landscape of neighborhoods and bring people together worldwide. ‹ ‹
