Editorials, Opinion What started six years ago with the concept of building literacy, one neighborhood at a time, has rather quietly exploded into a movement that now spans across the United States and around the world.
As detailed in today’s Post-Record, in 2009 Todd Bol of Hudson, Wisconsin, built — using all recycled materials — a model of a one-room schoolhouse. It was a tribute to his mother, a retired teacher who loved reading. He filled the little schoolhouse with books and attached it to a post in his front yard. His community responded with great enthusiasm, and he built several more to give away.
He called them “Little Free Libraries,” and each small structure was affixed with a sign that read: “Free Books.”
By January 2015, the total number of registered Little Free Libraries in the world was an estimated 25,000, with thousands more being built every year.
A local couple, Geri and Dan Rubano, recently inducted Camas into the effort by introducing the city’s first Little Free Library to the Evergreen Terrace Neighborhood. While as of yet, there are none in Washougal, Vancouver is home to handful a Little Free Library’s scattered throughout the city.
