The biggest little library
Like a lot of neighborhoods, the 1200 block of Jonive Road had a Little Free Library. Then it got bigger...
Editor’s note: Sebastopol Times reader Steven Thomas sent us this wonderful story about the Little Free Library on his property. It is such a perfect West County story.
Photos and text by Steve Thomas
We moved up to the West County woods 15 years ago, lugging boxes of books into the garage. During our first year of getting settled, I noticed there were a number of Little Free Libraries in various neighborhoods and hamlets around town.
I was lazy and did not fancy moving boxes of books up and down stairs, so why not put them out on the street? But, I had already learned there was a code of creativity and tradition to this ‘books-on-the-block’ local custom.
We live on a meandering paved path through the redwoods called Jonive Ridge (named after Jasper O’Farrell’s original land grant). I didn’t like how dark and dank the insides of the little libraries were so I wanted light—so my first book depository was made out of old windows I scrounged from neighbors.
It was tacky, but it found a following. Everybody has books, so over the years, it became the neighborhood book trading post. But demand outgrew my fledgling nest for used books, and I needed to upgrade. So I wandered down to Ray’s Trading Company looking for more windows. When I came across a set of cabinet doors, I was hooked on an expanded plan.
I also had found that rain and moisture would seep into any outdoor library…nobody wants to read a soggy book. So, I had to build a real library that could stand the test of the elements. But, as with all things creative, I got a little too enthusiastic. Now that I had size and light, I needed to make a statement-on-the-street—something the neighborhood would be proud of
I imagined an old-world nobleman’s library upstairs in a castle with stained glass windows so, of course, I added a stained glass window.
A stained glass window was a nice touch, but I needed a real entrance—though not one as large as our front door, which the previous owner found in an old French Abbey.
So back to Ray’s to dig through boxes of door handles. I wasn’t looking for a simple door handle—it needed to ‘vibrate’ with ancient mystical powers of the written word.
I think I paid more for the door handle than I did for the front doors.
Finally, the library was assembled and ready to be filled with books, so the natural thing to do is to have a BYOBB (Bring Your Own Book and Bottle) party.
The library has now taken on a life of its own. We are a walk-in-the-woods community, so many folks along the two miles of pavement trade out books along their walk.
One day I was putting the trash barrels up on the road, and I noticed our Recology truck parked in front of the library. The driver got out and said he always stopped to see if there were any new children’s books he could take home for his kids, that was when I realized it had now become a ‘destination’.
But the story is ever-evolving.
A few years ago, one of my neighbors had gone into a funk…his wife had unexpectedly died from a heart attack. We were in his garage, and he was trying to sort through his wife’s boxes of art supplies and children’s books. At that moment, we looked at each other and said “We need a children’s book annex on the library.”
So, the library doubled in both size and sentiment to honor Mary Kate.
The children’s annex has been a big hit. Families drive up, pile out of the car, and the kids have made it a shrine for storytelling and now a ‘toy trading post’.
The Library continues to evolve, now it’s an “everything trading post.” We put out fruits and vegetables from the garden, and neighbors will “take a fruit, leave a veg.”
One of our new neighbors has found his new raison d’être in creating colorful signs that he puts up all over the neighborhood. So, of course, the library needed new signage.
So, that is the story of how a little book box kept growing.
Maybe next year we will add a basement to the library complex!
A beautiful and nourishing story of community, care, and creativity… many thanks for sharing it.
What a lovely story. Thank you!