Renting a house instead of an apartment requires a new level of responsibility.
You have to make sure the lawn is mowed and the sprinklers work. You have to rake the leaves in the fall. You have to shovel the sidewalk when it snows.
After my roommate and I moved in, I realized that our house had a new strange responsibility. One that gave me a new appreciation for community engagement.
Our house has a free library.
The free library concept is simple enough. As the slogan says, “leave a book, take a book.” It’s a cute resource, and you don’t need a library card. The founder even made a trip to Colorado because they’re so popular here. In doing almost no research for this newsletter, I found the proper term is free little libraries. I will not be using this term.
However, the first rule of the free library is constantly violated. People leave books without taking any books. When I’m sitting on my front porch, I’ll watch as people drive around the neighborhood looking for free libraries to get rid of their books. The free library is not a donation center. I have no goodwill for people cramming books into the free library.
One day the free library was full of outdated 20-year-old guidebooks to Ohio. I immediately grabbed those and threw them in the recycling bin.
Then there are all of the religious books and pamphlets. People seem to think that the free library is a free advertising scheme.
I am just waiting for the day that someone puts a political pamphlet in the library. There’s a chance I burn the whole thing down and hope it’s covered by renter’s insurance.
This free library is a huge—very small—responsibility.
Like any community, some standards have to be adhered to make it work. Free librarians run all decent free libraries.
Free librarians take pride in the free library and keep it well maintained. Imagine if online comment sections were watched over like free libraries?
There’s not one demographic of free library customers. I’ve seen a guy in a huge construction truck stop in the middle of the street to grab a book. College students who grew up in the world of e-readers use the library. Even a dog walker stopped to browse with twelve dogs.
It provides a service to the community, even if the community does not always act like they deserve the library. Still, the free libraries carry on. We desperately need people willing to lead community resources like our diligent force of free librarians.
While writing this piece, I went to check in on the free library. Someone replaced half the books with something called “Inspirational Romance Novels.”
Recycling day is Thursday. As a good librarian, I’ll give my patrons a few days to check out these books before putting them to better use.