Little Free Library

**Little Free Library** is a nonprofit organization that helps people share books. It usually does this by using public bookcases. The organization works to make books more available to many kinds of readers.

There are more than 90,000 Little Free Library locations registered with the organization. They are in 91 countries. Millions of books are exchanged each year through these libraries.

Little Free Library is based in Hudson, Wisconsin, United States. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

## History

The first Little Free Library was built in 2009 in Hudson, Wisconsin. It was built by Todd Bol. Bol put a wooden container on a post on his lawn and filled it with books. It was designed to look like a one-room schoolhouse. The library was to honor his mother. His mother was a school teacher who had recently died and she loved books. Bol and his partner built and installed more of the libraries in different areas of the Midwestern United States.

Little Free Library became an incorporated nonprofit organization on May 16, 2012. The Internal Revenue Service recognized Little Free Library as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization later that year.

Bol originally wanted to create 2,510 Little Free Libraries. That is more than the number of libraries founded by Andrew Carnegie. The goal was met in 2012.

Little Free Libraries were also built in other countries. By November 2016, there were 50,000 registered Little Free Libraries in 85 countries. Margret Aldrich wrote _The Little Free Library Book_ about them. In August 2019, there were more than 90,000 Little Free Libraries in 91 countries around the world.

## Legacy and honors

The Little Free Library nonprofit has been honored by the National Book Foundation, the Library of Congress, _Library Journal_, and others for its work promoting literacy and a love of reading.

The Little Free Library organization has donated book exchanges through their Impact Library Program. It created a reading program called the Action Book Club. The program combines reading with community service.

## How it works

At a Little Free Library location, a person can take a book to read or leave one for someone else to find. Volunteers build, install, and take care of the boxes.

For a book exchange box to be registered and legally use the Little Free Library brand, the volunteer must do one of three things:
- Buy a finished box, or
- Buy the materials to make the box, or
- For a DIY box, get a sign which contains the "Little Free Library" text and official charter number

Registered Little Free Libraries can appear on the Little Free Library World Map. That map lists the libraries with GPS coordinates and other information.

There are Little Free Libraries in many shapes and sizes. Some are small, brightly painted wooden houses. One is a larger library that looks like Doctor Who's TARDIS.

## Related pages

- Public bookcase, for history and generic aspects of the practice

## Other websites

- Official website
- Little Free Library World Map
- Sampling of creative LFL ideas shared on Pinterest including repurposed pay phone, newspaper boxes, file cabinets
- Little Free Libraries Around Buffalo, NY: Mapped because most are not registered and don't appear on the official map

## Infobox (organization)

- **name**: Little Free Library Ltd.
- **image**: BerglundLittleFreeLibraryForestGroveOR.jpg
- **caption**: A Little Free Library
- **type**: 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
- **tax id**: 45-4043708
- **founder**: Todd Bol
- **leader name**: Monnie McMahon
- **leader title**: Board of Directors, Board Chairman, Chair
- **headquarters**: Hudson, Wisconsin
- **purpose**: To inspire a love of reading, build community, and spark creativity by fostering neighborhood book exchanges around the world.
- **employees**: 15
- **employees year**: 2016
- **volunteers**: 26,000
- **volunteers year**: 2016
- **revenue**: $758,377
- **revenue year**: 2016
- **expenses**: $1,049,926
- **expenses year**: 2016