Local Little Free Library Walkabout
I made a walking route that passes by a few of the local Little Free Library boxes near me! I am trying to be a little better about movement and exercise and walking. Having a fitness tracker again does make me a little more cognizant of the fact that I live a mostly sedentary life due to the pandemic.
I’ve also been slowly, but surely tidying up my space, throwing out and/or organizing things, and I realize I’ve been holding onto a lot of books, that I: no longer read, will never get to reading, never wanted (gifts are lovely, but books are iffy), and generally realizing that I am a book hoarder. (In addition to so many other things I hoard, but that’s for another entry.)
Some books I’m ok with keeping forever, others I like the way they look on the shelf, many are reference books, especially my cookbooks and gaming books, so they get good circulation. But I’m at the point of stacking books sideways atop and in front of other books, so it might be time to suck it up and admit that I need to let the books go.
I’m still against throwing books away, unless they truly are trash–and not the good kind of trash, but actual trash. So the “leave one/take one” boxes near me are a perfect interim and low-fuss solution!
From the Little Free Library site, it seems like they’re easy to set up, and while they do have a map and app, it’s on the part of the steward (box owner) to register it, so you’re far more likely to see the boxes out and about before they’re added or updated on the official map.
It turns out I have quite a few near me, so I took a recent walk to visit and catalog them, and it turned into roughly a 2-mile walk, when I add in a nearby park and errands, and it might get a little longer if I add the actual local library in as well. Which does remind me to renew my library card while I’m at it. DC Library cards expire after three years. I wonder if there’s anything that happened in the last three years that kept my mind more occupied than going to the library? Hm…
However, even without having an up to date card, as a DC resident I can still access several of the benefits, like getting a free 7-day subscription to the Washington Post website! But I mainly want to renew it so I can also check out other free digital offerings. After visiting the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit a little while back, I have to remember to make use of the library. Whether DC Public or Little Free Library!
And if it helps me get in a little exercise at the same time, all the better. Especially once the temperatures get a little more comfortable. 💖
My neighborhood has a little free lending library and I really need to get myself over there to drop a few off myself. I was very grateful our library let us register (and renew annually) over the phone the last few years, and I’ve really enjoyed not only digital books and audio books, but even TV shows and movies through their app. The library is great!