The book will be published by the Minneapolis-based Graywolf Press
The Thread's Must-Read:
A tribute to Little Free Libraries
"On Writing Well"by William Zinsser
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If you’ve ever picked up a book from a Little Free Library, you have Todd Bol to thank.
Bol kicked off the craze in 2009, when he built the first one at the end of his driveway. The concept was simple: Need a book? Take a book. The pay-it-forward trend spread around the world: Today there are 75,000 Little Free Libraries in 88 countries.
Bol died earlier this week at 62, and I just want to thank him for his work.
I moved to Minnesota eight years ago, right when Little Free Libraries were beginning to pop up around the Twin Cities, and I was instantly hooked. I built one up in my front yard out of an old bread box, and I was thrilled every time I peeked inside to see what had been picked up (There goes “Bunnicula!”) and what had been dropped off (A field guide to Midwest mushrooms?). The possibilities were endless.
I moved a few years ago, leaving my first library behind, but I still find myself stopping at nearly every Little Free Library I pass — and there are a lot of them in the Twin Cities. This summer, out on a run, I saw the familiar blue spine of one of my favorite books poking out of a little library. It was William Zinsser’s “On Writing Well.” This book is witty and sharp, and it will make you a better writer.
I grabbed it out of the library and ran all the way home with it, excited to think about who I would give it away to. (Yes, I recommended a book on writing, and I just ended with a sentence with a preposition.)
That is the magic of Little Free Libraries: They put hundreds of thousands of books directly into people’s paths. They're everywhere: You run by them; you walk by them; you bike by them. They’re at your bus stop or outside your grocery store. You stop to pick a book for yourself, or something for a friend. You spend an extra five or ten minutes of your day interacting with the magic of books.
What was the last book you picked up from a Little Free Library? Was it an old favorite or something new? Was it something you never would have found otherwise?
Whatever the book was, thank you for that, Todd.
-Tracy Mumford
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