Surprises Await With Boise’s Free Book Exchange

Maybe you'll find a surprising read about the history of Idaho's Bigfoot sightings that you never knew you needed.  Something new to try that's free!

The Little Free Library works off of the "take a book, return a book" philosophy, and it's caught on so much that there are more than seventy locations now in Boise alone.

There are more than 100,000 Little Free Libraries across the globe, and they operate totally on the honor system.  You can walk up, grab a book from the shelf, and replace it with another book that you've had lying around the house (or you can buy a brand new one).  It's a book exchange that has been gaining momentum worldwide for years because it increases access to books, promotes reading, and exposes readers to books that they might not discover otherwise.

A quick count on the map shows at least seventy Little Free Libraries in the Treasure Valley now, and five years ago the total was thirty!  It sure has grown a lot. There are several around Zoo Boise, Ann Morrison Park, and the Boise State campus, and you'll find them in West Boise and Southeast Boise too.

Each location has its own local steward that you can contact with questions. If you want to start your own Little Free Library, they suggest you take a look over the World Map to see if there is already a Little Free Library in your neighborhood. You can chat with other library organizers for advice, and send in questions on LittleFreeLibrary.org.

There's a one-time $40 fee to register the Little Free Library, and then you can build the little house the holds the books, paint it any color you want, and they'll send you an official engraved charter sign to post at your location.  You can also buy the little cabinet-like book holder pre-made, and then you just have to install it in your registered spot.

If you're a smidge screen-weary, then this may be your summer cure.  I don't know about you, but when I read a book I want it to be a hard copy so the pages fan my face when I flip them and I get a subtle whiff of thick book paper on the way by.  Add a glass of wine and a 72-degree evening on the patio, and that's the escape that we didn't know we needed.  Can we do this with vinyl records too?