81–90 of 107 posts
I love the idea but whenever I look in these it’s always the weirdest books and never anything I’ve heard of I guess that is expected though as the unwanted ones build up over time
Why would you want something you'd already heard of? That's hardly a discovery you could get such a book at the public library.
I find these to be cute, romantic almost. But I have never found anything worth borrowing. I wonder what is the real impact in terms of additional books read. I do love the concept of spreading knowledge in the neighborhood. I'd be curious about other similar approaches.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't understand the meaning of the word "stolen" in this context. I've never seen a LFL with explicit rules on who can or cannot take out the books, or what they're allowed to do with the books afterward. If someone sees "all the good books," are they not allowed to want all the good books? What if they take them and don't get around to reading them, are they stealing them? I understand that there's a potential tr…
It means taken with the intent to resell, not to read.
I guess I'm happier not getting angry over things that I don't know for sure, I'm happier generally assuming the best of my neighbors, and I accept that the books are out of my control once I drop them off at the library.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It means taken with the intent to resell, not to read.
Sure, but how do you honestly know that? Is it based on the profile of the person you see looking through them? Some people don't look like they should be readers? Or the fact that the "good ones" -- the ones that people presumably want to read -- get taken? I guess I'm happier not getting angry over things that I don't know for sure, I'm happier generally assuming the best of my neighbors, and I accept that the book…
Or maybe OP just means that none of them ever return; it's supposed to be a LF Library after all, not a LF bookshelf.
I once had time to kill in a neighboring town and so I thought I'd check out the local library, and a marker saying "Little Free Library" showed up nearby.
Imagine my confusion when I ended up in the middle of a residential area and did not find anything resembling a library. I cruised back and forth in the neighborhood, to the point I started worrying about looking suspicious, before I saw this little box on a corner and then it clicked.
Now I see them everywhere.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would you want something you'd already heard of? That's hardly a discovery you could get such a book at the public library.
Why would you want something you hadn't heard of? Nobody has run out of books that they've heard are good.
Seems to be entirely a boredom-fueled bird-watching project for the maintainer. It's not a "nice thing" at all it's an out of place paternalistic nudge that makes teens feel unsafe in their neighborhood.
The only nice things that comes from them are teens "blowing them up", artists vandalizing them or homeless/vagrants selling the books.
Not wanting to too negative, but this is just a rich person affection. You don't see these in low income neighborhoods for a reason. It can only exist where there isn't a real need, because if this was meant to fulfill a need, it would be wholly inadequate. It's like all those ventilator projects people were making during COVID. Feel good busy work, most of it went straight into the trash.
2) There are a lot of reasons why LFLs may not always thrive in low-income neighborhoods (although there are quite a few in mine, and it’s no Beverly Hills), but I would suggest that it is not because the residents exist in some higher state of authenticity.
Not wanting to too negative, but this is just a rich person affection. You don't see these in low income neighborhoods for a reason. It can only exist where there isn't a real need, because if this was meant to fulfill a need, it would be wholly inadequate. It's like all those ventilator projects people were making during COVID. Feel good busy work, most of it went straight into the trash.
1) People who don’t derive pleasure from reading do generally see it as an affection, because they can’t understand the appeal outside of apparent status-signaling. Reading, and discovering new material to read, is in fact an intensely selfish pleasure, but it is not a natural pleasure; if you didn’t get hooked in childhood, it’s probably not possible to convince you, and so you will forever see someone offering you…
Honestly, ultimately it's not that I think these are bad, but the attention to them is just gauche. It's weird to draw attention to this thing that I've literally only seen privileged people put up infront of their homes.