Enjoying the multiple conversations that Monday’s piece started about Little Free Libraries, I can’t help but share the two that our family has been enjoying this summer. In doing so, there’s a striking difference between the development pattern of Monday’s neighbourhood in Kansas versus this 100-year-old Winnipeg neighbourhood in which I live. Do those development patterns have anything to do with the vastly different public responses that these libraries have received? Maybe not, but it’s an interesting contemplation.
The blue image below is the Little Free Library that our family frequents almost every night. The other day when I was walking an errand elsewhere, I noticed our dog pulling to head toward the library, hopefully. We often end up in conversation with the owners of the home, who tell us that people leave so many donations, they’ve ended up with a small pallet in the basement, waiting to circulate. She also has said that they haven’t gotten complaints from neighbours during the 1-year that the library has been circulating its collection, but rather it becomes a place where people congregate in ones and twos, meeting new people and sharing ideas and books, year around. We often tuck small gifts into the books, an extra ticket to this or that, and are fulfilled and encouraged by this small gift to the street.
However, you’ll notice in these pictures that unlike that Kansas neighbourhood with the garage out front, these houses are fed by a rear lane or alley. People are used to seeing each other on their front porches, working in the garden, or strolling down the sidewalk. Plus all that eye contact causes us to secrete oxytocin, the trust hormone, so we might just be a little more relaxed around each other. More from Heather Emberley on the Little Free Library story and from Gordon Sinclair on their ability to connect us to each other.
When we moved here, there was a long note on the counter from the previous owners with directions on how to navigate this old house. Their first statement was, “You have great neighbours, and they will help.” I wonder if these people were appreciably different human beings than those who lived in my cul-de-sac neighbourhood in Florida? Or if it’s just that we rarely saw each other, from our collective snout houses?
The red sharing library below is not a Little Free Library, but rather an art installation that is only up for summer before the structure moves back to its job as a warming hut on the frozen Assiniboine River for the winter. But again, in the same neighbourhood and this time across the street from the park. In addition to the rear-facing garages, the high numbers of schools, places of worship, parks, and corner pubs increase our propensity to mix and mingle. Without the monotonous sameness enforced by the design constraints on the homes in many suburban locations, a little red or blue library at the curb isn’t such a shock to the system.
I’m not suggesting that the troubles experienced in Monday’s story come down to something as simple as the few dynamics I’m describing, however it does remind me of Winston Churchill’s words, “We shape our buildings, and then they shape us.”
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Very nice post.
I live in a neighborhood of Evanston IL, a first ring suburb in a neighborhood of similar vintage. Running short of funds, the City announced several years ago that the library’s South Branch, located in a corner storefront of a three story mixed use building would close. Neighbors objected, then with Friends of the Library organized “The Might Twig,” a method of saving the books and materials and providing community meeting and shared space in privately rented space in another nearby storefront, for which funds were raised and staffed by volunteers. This also bought time to convince the City to restore funding, and in 2013, the Twig was restored to a “Branch” again, complete with computer facilities, the shared space has grown into a collaboratory/incubator which in turn has stimulated financial support for a much larger facility; the story is told in part by the Evanston Patch at http://evanston.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/library-opens-branch-at-chicago-and-main . Libraries received stiff competition for several decades from Borders and Barnes and Noble, the latter too of which have long hours, no restrictions on serving food or co-locating amenities, and often more attractive spaces – I did a workshop for the Public Library Division of the American Library Association on this topic some years ago. The popup free libraries, this interim community based library solution, and other solutions that share reading and learning resources are essential components of livable communities.
Scott Bernstein
President, Center for Neighborhood Technology
2125 W. North Avenue, Chicago, IL 60647
773 269 4035, scott@cnt.org, http://www.cnt.org
Excellent post with many good avenues for place making exploration. A correction to the Churchill quote. He actually said “We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.” His intent was, I think, aligned with the meaning ascribed in Ms. Borys’ post. Churchill was referring to the manner in which the House of Commons, destroyed by enemy bombing during World War II, should be rebuilt. He advocated for rebuilding it in its original form, with too few seats to hold all the Members because the busy aisles would embody energy, vibrancy and sense of purpose during critical times and important votes.