Our Little Free Library is about to celebrate its first year. It needs a little sprucing up—maybe we will sand and re-seal it to brighten up the cedar finish. The library itself has been a wonderful success. So many neighbors and passers-by have stopped to borrow books, or take them home permanently, and to drop off new ones.

We didn’t have any  vandalism, although we were a little saddened by occasional theft: occasionally all of the books disappeared in a single afternoon, which is a sign that they were taken for resale. And the the batter-powered candles we put inside to bright the library in winter were stolen repeatedly, as were the candy canes. (Bah humbug: coal in the stockings of whoever did that!) And a hand-blown glass pencil cup was stolen recently after spending a whole year in the library (but not the pens and the sign-in book.) These small setbacks were nothing in comparison to the sunny good will that the library generates.

Throughout the year we noticed people with kids coming by, sometimes leaving children’s books. So we decided to set up another library just for kids. (Can you tell from the photo which is which?) If you have any children’s books to donate or a child who likes to read, please come on by!