My Little Library

LFL history, quirky and poignant firsthand stories, a resource guide, and some of the most creative and inspired LFLs around.

Expand the sharing movement to your community with Little Free Libraries and Tiny Sheds—your complete source for building tiny sharing structures, including plans for 12 different structures, step-by-step photography and instructions, inspirational examples, and maintenance. Around the world, a community movement is underway featuring quaint landscape structures mounted on posts in front yards and other green spaces. Some are built for personal use, as miniature sheds for gardeners or as decorative accent pieces. More commonly, though, they are evidence of the growing trend toward neighborhood organization and community outreach. This movement has been popularized by Wisconsin-based Little Free Library (LFL), whose members currently include 75,000 stewards seeking to build community togetherness and promote reading at the same time by sharing books among neighbors. LFL has inspired builders to use similar structures to share things like CDs, food, garden tools, and seeds in the community. Produced in cooperation with Little Free Library, Little Free Libraries and Tiny Sheds is the builder's complete source of inspiration and how-to knowledge. Illustrated throughout with colorful step-by-step photography and a gallery of tiny structures for further inspiration, Little Free Libraries and Tiny Sheds covers every step: planning and design, tools and building techniques, best materials, and 12 complete plans for structures of varying size and aesthetics. In addition, author and professional carpenter Phil Schmidt includes information on proper installation of small structures and common repairs and maintenance for down the road. Little Free Libraries and Tiny Sheds even includes information on how to become a steward, getting the word out about your little structure once it's up and running, and tips for building a lively collection. Community togetherness has never been so at the fore of our consciousness—or so important. Little Free Libraries and Tiny Sheds is one tool on the road to helping you build community in your neighborhood.

Mr. Tiffin and his students from the perennially popular How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? and The Dinosaur Expert make friends with, Librarian Beck a new character in the series who also happens to be non-binary. This thoughtful picture book is about a wood-working project that helps a young student become a book lover. Everyone in Mr. Tiffin's class couldn't be more excited that the new school library has finally opened. Everyone except Jake. Jake is a slow and careful reader. Sometimes he reads the same page more than once to figure everything out. And he often feels left behind on class Library Day. All that changes when Librarian Beck notices Jake running his fingers across the grooves of a brand-new bookshelf and offers him an old, worn book: Woodworking for Young Hands. Jake checks the book out, studies the pictures and instructions, and renews the book again and again. When the school year comes to an end, Jake has the perfect gift idea for the librarian who changed his life--and he makes it with his own two hands.

Lila Lou loves to read, morning, noon and night. Books are everywhere in her house. Lila Lou has so many books, she makes forts out of them! But when her mom decides that Lila Lou has one too many books, will Lila Lou be forced to get rid of her cherished books? Find out how Lila Lou uses her creativity and activism to save her books and inspires a community. The best book for teaching the power of activism and perseverance. Lila Lou's Little Library by Nikki Bergstresser carries key concepts of sharing, creativity and community supported by the many advocates of positive parenting solutions. It'll sit comfortably on your shelf alongside other books that focus on overcoming obstacles and creating community, like the work of Dan Santat (After the Fall) and Kristen Bell and Benjamin Hart (The World Needs More Purple People) This book comes with a free Reader's Guide for children. The guide is available for free download from the publisher website. Lesson plans, activities and discussion questions to allow parents, teachers and caregivers to explore the topic further and deepen comprehension.

Through this book, readers will discover that stories can move the human heart and head in ways that research cannot. Stories bring together readers, writers, librarians, teachers, students, and families in the libraries of today and will continue to do so tomorrow. Written for all those lovers of literacy, this book links libraries and literacies through the power of stories. The book is not filled with data in the form of pie charts, graphs, and tables. Rather, the truth of the research is grounded in authentic stories that reflect not only the interpretation of data, but also the transformative nature of literacies and libraries. The author's primary goal is that readers will come to value and use storytelling in their own professional and personal lives to explain and expand on complex concepts and to make information more accessible for all. The book begins by presenting anecdotes and the author's personal story to lay the foundation for what literacies are, and what literacy is not. An activity, "Spiral of Literacy," allows readers to reflect on their own literacies. Chapters that follow each begin with a story that sets the theoretical foundation. Each chapter concludes with an action section that demonstrates how to turn theory to practice, whether you are in a library, a classroom, or at home. A final chapter envisions what libraries might look like in 10 years, through interviews with librarians, teachers, and others interested in literacy.

A daily diary of actual interactions between a reference desk librarian and his patrons Reference Librarianship documents a year in the life of a young librarian working in the “trenches” at a library in the Midwestern United States. This one-of-a-kind book provides a daily diary of every librarian/patron transaction—no matter how mundane or absurd—to demonstrate not only how advances in technology have affected the reference librarian’s job, but how the public’s expectations have changed, as well. The book also includes observations by a now-retired reference librarian on the current state of the field based on these unedited interactions. Over the past two decades, the job of reference librarian has seen many changes. But in many ways, reference desk work hasn’t changed a bit, with its mix of odd, humorous, routine, and ridiculous requests that capture what it’s like to deal with patrons day after day. Reference Librarianship paints a clear picture of the field for library school students, provides emotional and philosophical support to practitioners, and reminds library administrators of what life was like on the “front lines.” A sampling of the daily transactions documented in Reference Librarianship: Monday, May 19, 2003: pencil pencil network down I tell people that I can’t sign them up for an Internet terminal because the network is down and they just stand there, staring into space One of them asks for three days worth of newspapers microfiche machine explanation Sorry, Sir, the network is still down (multiply by twenty and insert randomly into the remainder of the day) magic tricks, but he pretty much knew where they were One of our large interior plate glass windows shattered. No one was hurt and it made a fascinating noise, like a crystal waterfall landing on soil. “Books on prostitution, you know—whores?” Someone from the County called to ask if any criminal activity had occurred on a particular street. Someone else referred her to us. She was dubious—with good reason. “Math puzzles.” Okay. I show him the books. “Just math.” Certainly. I show him the books. “I need them in Spanish.” Grrr ... Reference Librarianship is an enlightening, educational, and entertaining look at the real world of reference desk work. It’s an essential read for reference librarians (both public and academic), library administrators, and library school students, as well as anyone who works with the public.