June 10, 2025
As you read this, I will be approaching my retirement and last day at Little Free Library. I convinced our wonderful communications team to indulge me with a bit of reflection. The Little Free Library universe had some memorable milestones over the last six years. I will share some of them here.
First and foremost, I must acknowledge the wonderful staff that I have had the pleasure of working with; the incredible volunteer stewards around the world that support the network; and our expanding universe of partners that provide financial and operational support. I have been fortunate to benefit from this powerful combination of talent, time, and treasure.
Reaching 100,000
My first celebration was the installation of Little Free Library #100,000 in March of 2020. Granted via our Impact Library Program, we selected the Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans in Houston to be our site partner. The unique Little Free Library sported artwork from John Parra taken from Miranda Paul’s children’s book, Little Libraries, Big Heroes, a story about Little Free Library’s founder, Todd Bol. This was the first but not the last of many custom-designed boxes that I would have the pleasure of being involved with.
The World Closes
What I didn’t know at the time was how fortunate we were to hold a live, in-person community event in Houston. Just days later, the world began to shut down from COVID. And in the months that followed, we would really see the power of our volunteer steward network. As schools went to remote learning, businesses cut staff, and even basic necessities became scarce, our stewards answered the call. What were once exchange points for books, Little Free Libraries became distribution points for shelf-stable food and toiletries for families in need, games for homebound children, and hope for a healthy community. While we could not connect physically, neighbors supported neighbors via their Little Free Library (or Pantry). Community caring and sharing was about more than books.
Books Provide Perspective
The pandemic stretched our world to its limits. It exposed fractures in our country that have long simmered beneath the surface. Then our society exploded with the murder of George Floyd on a Minneapolis street. As a Twin Cities-based organization, we were called upon to act. To figure out a way to help our neighborhoods heal, to help our communities learn about our differences, and maybe, just maybe, nurture a bit more empathy for each other. Working with local partners, we created the Read in Color diverse book program. Launched late in 2020 and rolled out nationally in 2021, this initiative connected community organizations, BIPOC-owned bookstores, Little Free Libraries, and curated reading lists to support and promote long-ignored voices. While details have changed, 2025 is the program’s fourth year, with 30 cities, 80 partners, and 323 locations involved. Unfortunately, rather than being embraced five years after George Floyd’s death, today the sharing of diverse perspectives has been met with hostility and censorship across all parts of our country.
Connecting Constituencies
For a very analog mission (we share books printed on paper!), it is hard to imagine a more incongruous development for Little Free Library, than a mobile application, but we launched our own in 2022. And what an experience! While the app continues to evolve, this little tool has become a huge way to connect Little Free Library stewards, patrons (visitors to a Little Free Library), our partners, and our organization all together. You can map a route, track your activity, share your favorites, ask for book assistance, and just share the love of reading. Our product team transformed a glimmer of an idea into a robust part of our offerings. As of today we have over 350,000 users of the mobile application.
Growing Our Programs
Over the years, Little Free Library has worked and partnered with a number of Indigenous communities across the US. In 2023, we made the strategic decision to create more structured support for Native needs and launched the Indigenous Library Program. Under the direction of our talented Program leadership, we recruited knowledgeable staff, collected community insight, and put dedicated funding in place. The program continues to grow and evolve. We have placed 200 Little Free Library boxes in both Native lands and urban communities to support our Indigenous partners.
More Volunteer Opportunities
Over the years, individuals that are not stewards, supported the Little Free Library network by making book additions to nearby book-exchange boxes. But we have come to realize that there are many people that want to do more. Last year, in 2024, we launched a new initiative, Team LFL, that provides the infrastructure to engage volunteers to support us, beyond being a visiting patron but not requiring someone to be a steward. With any new program, we have had a learning curve, but we have a great team leading the initiative, we are experimenting with geographic affiliates, and most importantly, helping bring books to Impact Program recipients. This is a really exciting opportunity for us to broaden participation, build community and expand book access.
Now There Are 200,000
Most recently, this past March, we installed Little Free Library #200,000. Placed at the Benjamin E. Mays IB World School in St Paul’s historic Rondo district, this one-of-a-kind Library is a replica of the first Little Free Library installed 16 years ago. In honor of this milestone, Little Free Library will be granting Little Free Libraries full of books to 200 Title I schools across the country. We cannot imagine a better way to celebrate than inspiring today’s young readers to become tomorrow’s leaders.
Thank You and a Favor
There are so many other wonderful things that the team accomplished over the last six years, but space limits me to a few highlights. It has been an honor and a privilege to work with such a great staff, a volunteer community of board members, stewards and Team LFL supporters, and a network of partners large and small. These are collective achievements, not solo acts.
But here is my ask of you. While there are forces that wish to take books off of shelves, limit our First Amendment rights, and hide history, do not sit idly by. Advocate for your public librarian. Read a book that might challenge your perspective. Share that book with your neighbor. And engage your neighbor with respect, humility, and empathy. Each of us can make our world a better place, one book at a time.
Peace.
