I did it! I sent in the required $35 and my future Little Free Library is officially registered worldwide. Number 11,109 already existed and now 11,110 is being constructed! I received my packet and the wooden sign that will identify the book box as an official Little Free Library once it is placed in my front yard.

The organization's original goal was to see at least 2,510 Little Free Libraries worldwide. This number is significant because it would be more libraries than Andrew Carnegie funded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Carnegie became a self-made millionaire and attributed some of that success to his reading as a boy. 

I've seen Carnegie-built libraries, many in small midwestern towns that I happened to pass through on short road trips. I'd find myself wondering if the building was indeed a Carnegie one. After passing its signage, I usually found it to be true. But, what was it that made me think that? Little did I realize that there were some similarities in most of their constructions. Usually a staircase beckoned readers into the building. Symbolically, climbing the staircase represented the learning level that would be elevated when once inside the building. Outdoor lighting, oftentimes a lamppost, shed light on those entering and served as a potential source of enlightenment for them. Something else to take notice of is that customers' access to open stacks originated with the Andrew Carnegie libraries. People could look for and choose books that they wanted to read and actually receive personal assistance from a centrally located and staffed desk. The formality of closed stacks was on its way out. 

Carnegie changed the public library scene much as Anythink has done. I think that he would appreciate the importance that we place on hospitality and might even smile at our interactive Experience Zones. And, as an innovator, he might have eventually imagined a library organized by our Word Search method.

Carnegie Libraries definitely had an impact on the climate of the country and now the Little Free Library movement is having its own impact. Once I decided to pursue a Little Free Library, I knew that I had research to do and questions that needed answers: 

• Should we buy a box or build it?
• How big should it be?
• Will it have one or two shelves?
• Where will we put it?
• Should it have both children's and adult books?

The Little Free Library website proved to be a great source for much of the needed information and I did find most of my answers there. Although I discovered that already-built, ready-to-install boxes could be purchased for anywhere from $250-$995.95, my husband decided that he wanted to join in on the project and build our Little Free Library. So, we both started searching the internet for ideas. Pinterest offered the majority of ideas that we considered. We found boxes that looked like little cottages, schoolhouses, cabins, circus wagons, British telephone booths and spaceships. They were painted, stained, shingled or covered with pop bottle caps. Some had one shelf; some had two. Some were very simplistic, while others were very unbelievably detailed. Some were painted in a wild and crazy style and others entirely in one neutral color. My overriding conclusion was that it doesn't matter what a Take a Book, Leave a Book box looks like. It's all about making books available for those who would like to read them!

Weighing all the options that we found, we finally decided on a barn structure that would complement our barn red rural home. 

Construction has begun; the shell is built. The journey proceeds.