Little Free Library

I recently found out about Little Free Libraries (LFL). Apparently it is a growing trend with more than 21,000 of them around the world (most in the USA).

The LFL philosophy, to quote the LFL website:

It’s a “take a book, return a book” gathering place where neighbors share their favorite literature and stories. In its most basic form, a Little Free Library is a box full of books where anyone may stop by and pick up a book (or two) and bring back another book to share.

I love the idea. Anything to help people read is a fabulous thing in my world. And that it can create a sense of community is a bonus.

Here are some examples:

New Jersey, USA

Massachusetts, USA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr Seuss Had it Right!

Brain Study....

I received this from a friend via email. It is amazing what your brain can do!

Good example of a Brain Study: If you can read this you have a strong mind:

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Books I Read in 2011

I didn't think I read many books in 2011. I know I didn't read as many as I could have, as there were many days where I read nothing (and that is not me at all). And I definitaly didn't read as many books as I would have liked. But even so, when I look back over the year I was surprised at the number of books I did read.

Hopefully my tally for 2012 will be even better...

A list of the 77 books I read in 2011:

Dad's Email Order Bride - Candy Halliday
Match Made in Court - Janice Kay Johnson
Perfect Partners? - CJ Carmichael
Until He Met Rachel - Debra Salonen
Dad's Mail Order Bride - Candy Halliday
Here Comes the Groom - Karina Bliss
A Little Texas - Liz Talley
Bad Boy - Peter Robinson
Bachelor Dad on Her Doorstep - Michelle Douglas
Bushfire Bride - Marion Lennox
My Reckless Surrender - Anna Campbell
Claiming the Courtesan - Anna Campbell
Captive of Sin - Anna Campbell
Vision in White - Nora Roberts
Bed of Roses - Nora Roberts
Freedom's Challenge - Anne McCaffrey
Freedom's Ransom - Anne McCaffrey
Christmas with Anne - LM Montgomery
Chasing the Night - Iris Johansen
Indulgence in Death - JD Robb
206 Bones - Kathy Reichs
Diamond's are a Teen's Best Friend - Allison Rushby
Fast Women - Jennifer Crusie
Expecting Miracle Twins - Barbara Hannay
The Rebel King - Melissa James
Tell Me lies - Jennifer Crusie
Shadowfae - Erica Hayes
The Man Behind the Badge - Sharon Archer
Hot Ice - Nora Roberts
One Night Before Marriage - Anne Oliver
Outback Man Seeks Wife - Margaret Way
The Prince's Forbidden Virgiin - Robyn Donald
Their Lost-and-found Family - Marion Lennox
Island Heat - Sarah Mayberry
The Single Dad's Marriage Wish - Carol Marinelli
Bride on the Children's Ward - Lucy Clark
Bedded By Blackmail - Robyn Grady
Baby Bequest - Robyn Grady
The Sheik and the Princess in Waiting - Susan Mallery
The Sheik and the Princess Bride - Susan Mallery
Da Silva's Mistress - Tina Duncan
What's a Housekeeper To Do? - Jennie Adams
Untameable Rogue - Kelly Hunter
Bargaining for Baby - Robyn Grady
My Family and Other Animals - Gerald Durrell
Deeper Than the Dead - Tami Hoag
Sweet Revenge - Nora Roberts
Spider Bones - Kathy Reichs
One Small Miracle - Melissa James
The Cattleman, The Baby and Me - Michelle Douglas
The Marcolini Blackmail Marriage - Melanie Milbourne
Sarah's Sin - Tami Hoag
How to Trap a Parent - Joan Kilby
Secrets to the Grave - Tami Hoag
The Coffeeholic and the Cafe - Elizabeth Martin
Little Gems (Garnet) - RWA
Carnal Innocence - Nora Roberts
The Other Side of the Story - Marian Keyes
Abby and the Bachelor Cop - Marion Lennox
Misty and the Single Dad - Marion Lennox
His Vienna Christmas Bride - Jan Colley
Cinderella: Hired by the Prince - Marion Lennox
Genuine Lies - Nora Roberts
Revealed: a Prince and a Pregnancy - Kelly Hunter
Westmoreland's Way - Brenda Jackson
The Garden of the Gods - Gerald Durrell
Birds, Beasts and Other Relatives - Gerald Durrell
Storm Cycle - Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
The Earl's Dilemma - Emily May
A Country Miss in Hanover Square - Anne Herries
Anybody Out There - Marian Keyes
To Davy Jones Below - Carola Dunn
A Bride for His Majesty's Pleasure - Penny Jordan
Soldier on Her Doorstep - Soraya Lane
Treachery in Death - JD Robb
Left to Die - Lisa Jackson
Chosen to Die - Lisa Jackson

How to Stop a Library From Closing

I think people's need for books and the sense of community a library creates can be forgotten at times. After reading the following article, originally posted by the ABC on 16th January, I don't think the council of Milton Keynes will forget again.

People power empties threatened library

The residents of a small town in Britain have borrowed every single book from their local library in an attempt to stop it from being closed.

Until this week, the town of Stony Stratford, a constituent town of Milton Keynes in north Buckinghamshire, was notable only because its two pubs, The Cock and The Bull, were the likely origin of the phrase "a cock and bull story".

But when the Milton Keynes Council decided to close Stony Stratford's library as part of budget cuts, 6,000 of the town's residents decided they had another story to tell.

A week ago the library held 16,000 books but today the stunned librarians preside over bare shelves. The people of Stony Stratford have taken home their maximum allowance of 15 books, including dusty mechanics manuals and flimsy paperback novels. At one stage during the week, nearly 380 books were being stamped out on loan every hour.

The campaign, called 'Wot No Books', was organised on Facebook by Friends of Stony Stratford Library. The group says the protest aims to show the void that would be left in the community if the library closed.

The Stony Stratford Council has backed the campaign against the Milton Keynes Council, because like many of the town's groups, it holds its meetings in the library. The Milton Keynes Council says it will continue to consult with the community about the planned closure.