Take a book, share a book
03 December 2018 by Leonie Paatsch, Teacher Librarian at Mackillop Catholic College
In October this year, a man named Todd Bol died just weeks after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. It is unlikely that you’ve ever heard of him – a family man from Wisconsin, who was passionate about communities and books. Yet the legacy he left behind earned him obituaries in the New York Times The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.
Nine years ago, in possession of an old wooden garage door he wanted to repurpose, Todd decided to make a tribute to his school-teacher mother who had loved books. He built a mini schoolhouse, put it on a pole in his front yard and placed books in it for his neighbours to exchange. The idea inspired others, and thus was born the Little Free Libraries project, a movement that now includes more than 75,000 Little Free Libraries across 88 countries.
Werribee has one registered Little Free Library, at Wyndham Park Primary School. You may have noticed it on Kookaburra Avenue. The idea is simple. Passers-by are invited to take a book, leave a book, or both. The standard Little Free Library is a box on a pole, but designs range from rocket ships to The Doctor’s Tardis.
To encourage holiday reading, we have created a Little Free Library in our library foyer. Students and staff are welcome to take and leave books before the end of the year. The contents will be constantly changing, so visit each day to see what’s on offer!
For more information and inspiration for you to create your own Little Free library, visit littlefreelibrary.org
Proof that one person can change the world.
“If I may be so bold, I’m the most successful person I know because I stimulate 54 million books to be read and neighbors to talk to each other. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the very definition of success. If people get along and work together and share books, I’ll take that over Billionaire Bob’s money. I wouldn’t switch my existence for Jeff Bezos or any of it.”
Todd Bol
