Creative Ways to Give Old Books Some New Homes

Have books you're ready to pass along for someone else's enjoyment? Here's an intriguing way to do that: create your own Little Free Library. You can buy one of the various library models, all of which are made from recycled materials, or make one of your own. I love this Q&A:

Q: Won't people steal the books?
A: No. You can't steal a free book.

[via Kelly Rae Roberts — in turn via Brené Brown — and Apartment Therapy]

I've been reading about a number of other book swapping and mini-library ideas, too.



Books for London is putting book swapping shelves in underground and railroad stations; isn't that a great idea? As the program's web site explains: "Shelves are established in stations, and commuters can use them to pick up books they would like to read and drop off books that they want to give away. This scheme builds on already successful ones such as Bookcrossing and local pub and hostel swap schemes." The very cool logo comes from designer Luke Henley. [via Do the Green Thing]




British Telecom has an Adopt a Kiosk program, and some communities are turning these phoneboxes into little libraries. As photographer John Spooner noted about this one in Barton Stacey: "It may not have many books, but it is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year." [photo licensed under Creative Commons] You can read about the one in Somerset, with space for 100 books and DVDs, where "residents line up to swap their already read books for new ones left by other patrons."

John Locke has a program to do something similar with New York City's phone booths; see his website for more information, and cool photos. [via Inhabitat]

And the good old office (or other workplace) book swap is still a great idea.

Related Post:
10 Ways to Find New Homes for Your Books