I picked the CS Lewis quote because I like it and it seems to fit the nature of this little library – I hear people talking about books and how much they love them and how thrilled they are seeing a book they like in there, even if they don’t take it. I think we live in lonely times and I think books help us connect.  Also, I spent a whole lot of my formative years checking the backs of closets and wardrobes, just in case Narnia was real, so CS. Lewis will always have a special place in my heart. I’ll probably change the quote occasionally to keep things interesting.  Not because someone doesn’t like it  – I really don’t care about that. Part of the beauty of reading is that exposes you to different ideas and it’s perfectly fine to not like all of them. 

Someday I hope to meet whichever neighbor is putting in all the  cool noir stuff and have a nice discussion about detectives over a couple of whiskeys. 

Kids will read the good stuff, especially if that’s all that’s available.

Then they can go on to read the award-winning stuff.  It’s not either-or.

So, I disagree strenuously.

In fact, giving Disney books is the lazy man’s way of getting kids interested in literature.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_world_syndrome

*as a former ‘rowdy’ teen myself I’d say the expectation of being a hellion and a lack of foresight led me to do destructive things.

But like many others here, I wonder about the sustainability of an effort like this.  Location and environmental concerns strike me as the most challenging.

Ann Arbor has a fantastic local library – with one large main library (downtown) and 4 fine branch libraries  on the periphery of the city – and a public transit system.  (Let’s not mention the University of Michigan Libraries, although those are limited to the faculty, students, and staff of the University.)

They seem to fill as much a social need as anything else, and at a very local scale.  Neighborhood builders.

There aren’t many Free Little Libraries in Michigan – and the intellectual evangelist in me is amused to see that they’re all located in the wealthier, better educated (and most likely more progressive) mid-sized cities.