Brookswood mom has brought the first Little Free Library to her neighbourhood, and it has been getting great reviews so far.
Emily McGuire wanted a way to connect with her neighbours in Brookswood.
What better way than to share her love of reading, she thought.
McGuire dusted off an old shelving unit she had stored in her garage and let her two children paint it. After adding a sloped roof to keep everything dry, she got her husband to drill holes in the shelving unit so that it could be secured in place.
Last week, she trucked it over to the corner of 200 Street and 37A Avenue and filled the shelves with books — some fiction, some non, picture books and even children’s books donated by her two kids.
Now Brookswood residents can take a book or leave a book, McGuire said.
“The response has been amazing. The community has really embraced it already and it’s only been up a week,” she said. “I am seeing people of all ages peeking in, dropping off books and taking them.
“I love the idea of sharing and exchanging books. Also, to encourage reading, especially with kids in the community.”
The Brookswood Little Free Library is registered with the littlefreelibrary.org which means it is now on a world-wide map of locations of free libraries around the globe.
On a Brookswood Facebook page, more than 25 people commented about what a ‘wonderful’ idea this is and how they had already seen and used it.
Little Free Libraries have become popular around the world in recent years.
One of the first ones in B.C. was placed in an East Vancouver neighbourhood.