I love little free libraries, but I'd also love it if my fellow readers would start to pay attention to where they're finding little free libraries, where they aren't finding them, and what that says about our efforts to make reading accessible to those who currently have the least access to it.
It makes me think of that post on here where someone (maybe op?) mentioned adults in reading spaces reading banned books for banned books week and acting like that's making a tangible difference, when in actuality, no one is stopping them from reading banned books. Children in schools are being denied access to these books, and adults reading them for banned books week isn't doing anything to prevent book banning in schools. There are things adults can do to push back against book banning, but just reading books that you have full access to isn't it.
Similarly, little free libraries are meant to make reading accessible for everyone, but most of them are located in middle-class+ suburbs. They cost money to establish (yes, even if you're buying the materials to make it yourself), you need to own the land you're putting it on or get permission from a landlord (good luck there), you need to be able to pay for maintenance upkeep, and you're responsible for keeping it stocked if it gets low. These are all barriers to lower-class/poor neighborhoods having access to books the way people in the suburbs do.
None of this is to say that little free libraries are bad or shouldn't exist—keep your piss away from me—but it's a thought. When we celebrate little free libraries for providing access to books "for everyone," let's pause for a minute and examine who actually has access to those books and who doesn't.
"Building community. Inspiring readers. Expanding book access."
Some of the kit prices:
And yeah, you can make your own, but again it isn't cheap and it takes a lot more time and energy.
I do want to point out that their mission statement of building community, inspiring readers, and expanding book access isn't bullshit by any means. No one in my neighborhood can set up a little free library, but there are a few at the family medicine practice close by. It is largely institutions that work in/with poorer communities that create accessibility with little free libraries.
My gripe isn't necessarily with the concept of little free libraries in general, but the way almost every one I've seen both online and off is backdropped by a beautiful, expensive ass house that people in my neighborhood could never hope to afford. It's that individuals in suburbs can afford to buy them and plop them in front of their homes and pat themselves on the back for making books more accessible for people who didn't have a huge issue accessing them in the first place, but most of the ones that exist in poor neighborhoods are funded by institutions, bc the average person can't afford to have one. And it's that, in the name of accessibility, people will go around to different little free libraries in their neighborhood and drop their books off there, when they could easily go a little out of the way to drop them off in the ones in poorer neighborhoods. But a lot of them won't, because they're "afraid" to be in said neighborhoods.
So my gripe really is with both the price tag on establishing a little free library in the first place, and with the way they're prioritized and glorified in suburban neighborhoods while being ignored elsewhere.
But, hey, I'm not here just to yell about this. Did you know you can sponsor a little free library? That's right, YOU can help get one set up! You can call up businesses, churches, medical offices etc. in disenfranchised neighborhoods and work with them to establish a little free library on their property. You don't even have to do it on your own. Sometimes just floating the idea will make these establishments consider it. You can go in with a group of people, you can use crowdfunding like gofundme. You can do something as simple as dropping your books off outside of well-off neighborhoods. You can make an actual difference, which is pretty fucking punk.
Last year I dropped off 12 YA books in the little free library outside my doctors office. When I went back for therapy 3 days later they were all gone. Consider dropping your books off where it matters most. And if you live in a town/county that is regularly trying to pass book bans, a more effective way to counteract those is to start going to school board meetings and pushing back.
