Maybe you live near a school in a neighborhood where residents enjoy walking their dogs. So, you might want to share books for kids and about dog care, for example. Choosing a theme is a great starting point. 

Now visit the Little Free Library to learn more about how to build and install the ubiquitous box on a post with swinging doors that will house your book collection. If you choose to buy a kit from the group’s online store, the money goes back into growing the Little Free Library program, Gumnit said. But the website also includes free plans, blueprints and installation instructions for the handy among us looking for a DIY carpentry project.

Find a spot where neighbors will use it. 

Next, choose a location. For Jaime Groth Searle, founder of The Southwest Collective, a neighborhood organization on Chicago’s Southwest Side, her yard wasn’t a good fit because she lives at the end of a street without much foot traffic. Two nearby parks, however, were perfect. 

“One of the things we really like doing at the collective is sharing stuff,” Searle said. “A couple folks in our group said, ‘We want to encourage kids and parents to stay at the park a little longer and get to know each other.’ Someone suggested a little library.”

Those two first libraries have grown to nearly 15, Searle said. Her group got permission from the park supervisors before installing them in parks around the neighborhoods. 

Engineer a steady stream of books. 

Next, think about where you’re going to get your books. “Launching is the easy part,” Gumnit said. “The hard part is maintaining it.” 

Searle agrees: “Think about where you’re going to get a steady supply of books before you put one in,” she said. 

Searle said she let people know that The Southwest Collective would take unwanted children’s books for the libraries. Now, her teacher-friends and her daughter’s school donate books, and others know to place them in the little free library boxes. “You’ll be surprised at how quickly people will give you books if you ask for them,” she said. 

Enlist neighbors to help care for it. 

Placing little free libraries near or in a park can be a good way to keep them maintained, Searle said. Neighbors can go to the group’s Facebook page and report storm damage or other needed repairs. Many will do quick fixes themselves.

“When it’s in your yard it’s your problem all the time. If it’s in the park, you have people who are willing to help,” Searle said. “I’ve met so many of our neighbors this way.”  

Gumnit said Little Free Library stewards can register on the group’s page, log their libraries on the organization’s map, and connect with other stewards around the world to learn what’s working for them — or not.

“What I really think it’s all about is building community,” Gumnit said. “Little free libraries are these little beacons of hope and beacons of connection in our neighborhoods.”