Little Libraries

I found another Little Library near my house the other day when I was out walking. Number me among the people who can't walk by one of the boxes without stopping for a peek inside.

I hit the jackpot that day - I found three intriguing books therein. And then, since I was out, I meandered by the other little library near my house. And picked up two more stories. I tend to pick up books from the libraries that I wouldn't otherwise buy or even check out of the 'real' library. I choose genres I don't normally read, authors I've not heard of before.

Often, I realize there are reasons I don't often read books in a given genre (i.e. romance books. I always think I'm up for a little romance, but usually find the plot to be thin, the writing mediocre.) But then. Then there are the unexpected gems. A well-written book by a  new (to me) author that hooks me from the first page and lets me spend a few hours in an imaginary world.  Yes!

I often feel just a tad guilty about my finds, because I know I'm supposed to leave a book when I take one. But usually when I stop by, I was out on a walk with no intention of book browsing, and have nothing in my hands to offer. I just hope people will understand. I DO eventually get by to return a book - sometimes it's the original book I borrowed, sometimes I choose something neglected on my shelf, hoping someone else will give the story a better home. (Those unexpected gems don't get to go back to the libraries, though I do try to replace them with a neglected good story from my existing book collection.)

I want to do more book reading in my day-to-day life; it's one of the activities I don't have time to do when I spend too much time mindlessly skimming news on the internet. As I walk around the park, sometimes I see someone sitting on a bench in the shade enjoying a book. Back when I was working, I promised me that would be me some day. Now I'm retired, it still hasn't been me, but I'm still determined that it will be one of these days.

My reading time has always been after dinner, after the rest of the chores for the day are completed. Now, there have been just a few mornings where, when I got up, instead of starting on my list of to-dos, I've instead sat down with my coffee to finish the story I'd reluctantly put down the night before because my eyes decided to stop focusing on the page. I count those mornings as a win.

I'm glad there are people near my house who have jumped on the Little Library bandwagon. Their keepers get nothing tangible in return for the work they do to maintain the structures, weeding through the books on occasion, refilling from their own book stashes when the shelves are bare. It's one of those things that gives me hope for humanity - people giving to people just because they want to share.

Does my heart good.