Little Free Libraries come in an array of shapes, sizes and colors, but few are as whimsical as the mini library in one Idaho front yard.
Sharalee Armitage Howard, an artist, librarian and bookbinder in Coeur d'Arlene, Idaho, converted a dying 110-year-old tree into a one-of-a-kind Little Free Library. Howard's library is one example of how the movement has evolved since founder Todd Bol built his first mini library at his Hudson, Wis., home in 2009.
After the tree in Howard's front yard began to rot last year, with branches falling onto cars and the sidewalk below, she decided to save the tree instead of cutting it down. Howard told Atlas Obscura that she hollowed out the trunk, installed shelving and added a swinging glass door. Then she added green trim and mounted tiny wooden replicas of books over the door.
Since Howard posted a photo of the library on her Facebook page in December, the image has gone viral, with more than 100,000 shares and thousands of comments.
The most common form of a Little Free Library is a "small wooden box of books," according to the organization's website, but many like Howard's take unique forms.
Since the organization formed in 2010, the libraries have spread to neighborhoods across the United States and to more than 90 countries.
The movement's growing reach is a testament to Bol's ambitious vision for the organization.
Bol says the libraries are a tribute to his mom, June Bol, who always welcomed kids into their Stillwater home. "It was a spiritual gesture," he said in 2013 in an interview with the Star Tribune. The movement took root early in Minnesota, and the state has about 2,000 Little Free Libraries now.
"I can give you thousands of examples of people doing things across the globe fixing their neighborhood one book, one child at a time," Bol said in an interview before his death in 2018. "I want to see a Little Free Library on every block and a book in every hand."
Emma Dill is a University of Minnesota student on assignment for the Star Tribune.
