She Can't Get Me Thrown Out of This Library

The kids and I take frequent trips to the public library. Or at least we took frequent trips to the public library before Hallie decided that her primary purpose in life is to get me permanently kicked out of every library in America.

Luckily Madison has a new library system available to city residents, one out of which we can't be thrown.

Little Free Libraries began in Hudson, Wisconsin, and allow community members to freely share and borrow books of all kinds. The mission of these little wooden structures, found primarily on private property but near sidewalks, bike paths, and parks, is to promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide, to build a sense of community across generations, and to build more than 2,510 libraries around the world.

There are at least three Little Free Libraries in my parents' neighborhood, including one less than a block away from their front door, and I've seen more than 10 more as I've been walking and driving around Madison. They are unique, quaint, and almost inspiring, as to me, they represent the importance Madison places on community involvement, growth, and literacy.

Will's been perusing the books in our neighborhood's Little Free Libraries, but has yet to find one he felt strongly enough about to take with him. So this afternoon, in hopes of improving his Little Free Library karma, Will walked five of Grandma and Grandpa's old children's books down the block and dropped them off. I'm crossing my fingers this does the trick, because if he doesn't find a new book soon I'm going to have to take Will and Hallie to the real library, and we all know how well that's going to go.

I'm thinking about putting a Little Free Library in my yard. College Station friends - have you ever seen anything like this in town? What do you think HOAs would say? Do you think a LFL would be used?