This Library’s Always Open
The Little Free Library at 9100 Greenwood Ave. in North Beach joins some 36,000 front-yard book-lenders in 70 countries, from Iceland to Tasmania to Australia.
Library stewards Gary Stevens and Meredith Allen have stocked their Little Free Library with a variety of used books for readers of all ages to take a book and leave a book.
“We’re excited to join the Little Free Library movement as North Beach’s first official location and tiniest community literacy initiative,” said Allen. “It’s our hope that our Little Free Library will bring a bit of joy and foster a greater sense of community through a shared love of reading.”
The Little Free Library organization sells standard birdhouse-size libraries. Stevens chose to build a customized dairy barn replica to honor his youth on Red Gate Farm in Kingston, New Hampshire.
“I worked with my dad and cousins from dawn to dusk on my family’s 150-cow dairy farm, and I always welcomed the escape of a good book on my break,” Stevens said.
The Little Free Library organization has been honored by the Library of Congress, the National Book Foundation and the American Library Association. Each year, nearly 10 million books are shared in Little Free Libraries.