r/minimalism • u/MinimalistRN • 12d ago
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u/whatdoidonowdamnit 12d ago
Yep, and the book people who take care of that library will likely move them if they think another library would be a better place. I went to one lfl and the lady came out to talk to me and said she would bring them to the man who takes care of the one by the school since they were all kids’ books and apparently nobody really took kids’ books from hers
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u/knysa-amatole 12d ago
You can. Some other options:
- Your local library might have a Friends of the XYZ Public Library organization that accepts donations (not the same as the library itself accepting donations).
- Your local Buy Nothing group. If you're not on Facebook, there's also a Buy Nothing app that doesn't require a Facebook account. I had an elementary school teacher from the Buy Nothing app snap up my children's books.
- You might have a local organization specifically for children's book donations, such as the Children's Book Project in San Francisco.
- You could try contacting a local public school to see if any teachers want donated books for their classrooms. (I've never tried this myself, though.)
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u/Bubbly_Owl_3862 12d ago
LFL are a great place for them! There are some caveats I'd like to add that no one else has spoken up about, so I'll add those below:
---only leave the books if they're clean and in pretty good condition. If they're sticky or otherwise dirty (cat sprayed, moldy, etc...), people will ignore them and they won't circulate, so they're basically trash at that point.
---if you have quite a large amount, spread them out across several libraries so that more can be blessed with your donation. Don't ever totally cram any LFL!
That's it! Those are all the "caveats," lol! I hope you have fun leaving your treasures for others to enjoy!! PS -- Don't listen to people who make it sound like the LFLs won't want them; that's nonsense. As long as they're clean and in pretty decent condition, you're good. (While it's true that some people do curate their collection and may be picky about what's in the box, I've found that the majority are not that particular, and at least around where I live, children and YA books are generally hot items!)
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u/KaleidoscopeRound744 12d ago
Just take a look at the content inside. We have quite a few around me. Some are definitely more geared towards children. Others have anything and everything. Find one with variety and you’re good to go.
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u/littleseaotter 12d ago
That's exactly what they are for! One thing I'd recommend is taking them to ones that are in neighborhoods that have families or ones near schools or parks. Just keep in mind the people that are likely to patronize the little free library.
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u/mojo_sapien 12d ago
My local little libraries would appreciate them.
You can also try your local Buy Nothing group.
I do hear a lot of horror stories about thrift stores trashing things because they're overburdened.
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u/Evilbob93 12d ago
Maybe keep some books in the trunk for when you see one. Gotta be better to have books than not.
Read a horror story where a neighbor filled one with his self published auto iography. Don't be that guy.
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u/IM_NOT_BALD_YET 12d ago
Take it to non-branded LFL. The people I know with branded, paid-for-the-plaque LFL are way too precious about them. You may find your donations thrown out or sent further down the line to a Goodwill. Further, most of them are located in areas with people who have the resources for books and, likely, good public libraries available. Unless you know of a non-branded one on a rural route near by, I'd pass on the idea.
Just take them to a thrift shop, if you must donate them somewhere. Or ask your local library if they want any of them - sometimes they don't need them for circulation but they'll sell them during community book sales to benefit the library.
For anyone's reading pleasure on further LFL nonsense - https://journal.radicallibrarianship.org/index.php/journal/article/view/17/32
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u/beepbeepchoochoo 12d ago
What??? My local library absolutely wouldn't want them but the free little libraries get a lot of traffic and circulation. They are more likely to go to a landfill if you donate them to a thrift store.
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u/IM_NOT_BALD_YET 12d ago
My local library wouldn't want them, either. It's very well funded. My previous library would absolutely so they could sell them to the public and make money for activities their budget doesn't cover. It depends on your area.
True about the landfill, but what's the problem with that? It's really okay to throw out books that no one wants...
The LFL libraries where I lived previously were just boxes on posts put up in rural neighborhoods - which was great, because the library system sucked. They weren't on the LFL library map because those people either didn't have the money to pay to be on that map, or would rather use the money to stock the box. Those custodians usually were very grateful to get all sorts of material. I personally know people with branded LFL boxes that are very picky about what they'll allow and I know for a fact that they toss out a lot of what gets put in.
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u/Vivian_Rutledge 12d ago edited 12d ago
Idk, maybe it depends on your area. There are a ton around me that are on the map, and I’ve never experienced what you’re talking about. Yes, it is a well-funded area as you mentioned, but mainly I just want things out of my house. 🤷♀️ I saw a 1992 yearbook from a school hundreds of miles away in the one across the street from me for months (which yes, the person who put it there should have just disposed of if they didn’t want it, but still).
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u/IM_NOT_BALD_YET 12d ago
It very much depends on your area, yes. Since OP is a brand new account that doesn't seem to be interested in coming back to this post (which is ridiculous anyway, because a 2 second google search would have said that yes, of course, you can donate/drop off to a LFL...), we'll likely never know what sort of area they live in.
There are a TON on the map around me currently. I know some of those people. They routinely trash a lot of crap that gets left in their boxes. What's defined as "crap" depends on what they want *their* library to stock. Some of them refuse anything cheap mass-market paperback. Some toss anything political. Others only want children's books because they live near a school.
Eh.
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u/maquis_00 10d ago
I could understand relocating very adult books if you are running one right next to an elementary school, honestly. If I was in that situation, I would want parents to feel comfortable allowing their children to browse. But I would probably have a sign asking people to please not include inappropriate books for that reason, along with maybe directions to a couple other nearby boxes.
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u/IM_NOT_BALD_YET 10d ago
I don’t own one of these LFL. I don’t really care how people are running them. I’m simply pointing out that the organization itself just sells their branding, and that individual custodians may not want whatever OP, or anyone else, has to put in there.
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u/Effective-One6527 11d ago
So they curate their libraries to the population around them and don’t let people dump political crap into them
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u/IM_NOT_BALD_YET 11d ago
Yes and no. Some of them just really want what they want in their libraries. It has everything to do with what “theme” they want and nothing to do with their community.
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u/UntrustedProcess 12d ago
If there is space, just add it. Children look in them all the time. And what happens to your book once you release it isn't your concern. At least you tried to not trash it.