About a year ago, Rachel and I moved to a new neighborhood in Philly that’s, well, very well-read and educated. One of the reasons I say this is because of the bounty of “free libraries” we see during our walks.
These free libraries are little boxes filled with books placed outside people’s homes, in parks, and outside of businesses. They basically work on an honor system – you can take a book for free, but you should also put one of your own books in there.
I’ve found some great books in these little libraries, including something by Thomas Merton that I was dying to read. For a book nerd like me, having a plethora of these things in the neighborhood is dangerous. It’s almost like a kid in a candy store where everything is free and they don’t have to bug their parents to buy it.
Speaking of free, in our apartment building we also have a “free bench” in the lobby. Tenants in the building put stuff on the bench they no longer need. What a concept!
I suppose some people would call all this free stuff “socialism.” If that’s the case, then I say, “Hurray for Socialism!”
I’m in Vancouver, Canada, and we have some of these too. It’s a pretty cool concept.
Nice. Yeah, I’d seen them here and there in other places I lived, too. But the neighborhood I’m in now must have dozens. It’s great.