Little Free Library

We’ve had lots of activity with the Little Free Library and it’s time for an update. First, the bad news. Someone stole the Lego R2D2 we used as a door handle. It’s pretty lame, but luckily they didn’t damage the door in the process and the little platform he was sitting on was intact as well. So we looked around in the Lego boxes and talked with Ezra about what to use to replace it. Ezra wanted to use Ninjago Jay, but we really liked the Star Wars idea better because it’s more universally known. We tried a Storm Trooper but it just didn’t have the same effect. Finally, we realized that we still had two R2D2s so we asked Ezra if we could use another one. He agreed.

Bruce pulled out the big guns to affix it this time and R2 is back up.

So far, so good.

Before we realized we had extra R2s, Bruce and Ezra made missing posters (Ezra’s idea) and taped them to the library.

He hasn’t been turned in, and we’ve taken down the posters, but I think it was a good idea anyway.

Now, for the good news. We got our sign and we’re officially Little Free Library number 2397.

We took a few more pictures in order to register on the LFL site, so I’ll share those here as well. They want a picture of the location.

A closeup.

One with people.

And we sent them one of R2D2 as a unique feature.

I also took some at night.

A couple of weeks ago there was a story in the L.A. Times about a “nationwide movement” called Little Free Library. Basically, people put up a small structure in their yard somewhere, fill it with books, and welcome neighbors to take a book, bring a book, or both. We were hooked right away and got started planning our own little free library. We mostly used materials we already had, and it came together incredibly fast — less than three weeks. We put it up yesterday evening. Already, people have come by to use it; several books are gone and new ones have appeared.

Of course, I documented the process.

Day one, making the box.

We used some of the boys’ old wooden blocks as cladding for the sides.

Next were some embellishments and a roof.

For the front, Bruce used some pieces of mahogany that he got from Janice’s dad’s workshop.

The metal roof was left over from the playhouse Bruce built for the boys way back when we lived over by the Rose Bowl.

Next it got a couple of coats of finish.

And a red door.

It also got a light inside.

Then we needed a door knob. We didn’t have any laying around and didn’t really want to buy one, so I asked Ezra if he wouldn’t mind making one out of his Lego. I explained he’d be sacrificing the pieces because they’d have to be permanently glued together. He was very excited and came up with this.

So they glued R2D2 together with this platform.

It looks great!

Bruce built a stand for the box, dug a trench to wire in the light with the timed lights in the garden, and dug a big hole.

Once he’d attached the box to the stand, we were almost ready to go.

My contribution was the sign.

The boys were pretty excited about our little project.

And here it is on the first night, all lit up.

There are more pictures here. We’re waiting to hear back from the Little Free Library people to get our official sign and number and get added to their map of libraries.

This has been a super fun experience!