Have you heard about the Little Free Library movement? It’s a nationwide campaign to improve literacy and a love of reading one neighborhood at a time, by erecting small book repositories on street corners, filled with books that can be borrowed (and returned) for free.
It all started in 2009, when an avid reader built a schoolhouse-shaped box that he stocked with free books and placed in his front yard, as a tribute to his mom, a former schoolteacher. That single neighborly gesture has become a bona-fide phenomenon.
You might have heard about the free-book repositories in Bend and Redmond, which the Bend Bulletin wrote about a while ago (you can also find them on a map of library locales found on the LFL website). But did you know there are also Little Free Libraries in Sisters (on Meadow View Drive, off Indian Ford road) and in downtown Tumalo (64688 Cook Ave)?
It’s great to know that even in our smallest communities, there are folks who still enjoy and want to share the love of a good book! If you’d like to establish a Little Free Library, check out the official website — it has plenty of info to get you started.
Update (March 18, 2014): I just spotted another LFL in downtown Tumalo. It’s attached to the Friends Art & Academy building off Cook Avenue (19889 Eighth St.)
About the Author
Lisa Broadwater, GRI, CDPE, is a Central Oregon-based real estate professional who specializes in listing and selling homes, especially in Sisters, Tumalo, Bend and Redmond.