You thought it was a big dumb mailbox, didn't you?

They look like a birdhouse at first. But then, who'd put a birdhouse at shoulder level? Or maybe it's an ornate mailbox. I've seen a bunch of those in my day as a person who stares at mailboxes out the car window. In actuality, they're an automatic upgrade to your neighborhood if you see one pop up.

stack of books on the shelf
Olegk1986
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These are Little Free Libraries. The simple idea is that you are free to take a book from it and return it when you're done. I've even heard of people donating books to tiny libraries they've borrowed from. It's a neat little form of community that's been popping up more and more. It got me wondering... how many of these libraries are there?

Around the greater Bangor area, we have approximately 24 of the tiny tome domes. There are likely a few that aren't registered at LittleFreeLibrary.org, so it may not be 100% accurate, but check out the map for yourself, so you can see if there's one near you. Or, be the trendsetter of the neighborhood.

Anything that promotes reading is awesome.

There's also a ton of helpful info on the website. Want to build your own Little Free Library? They can show you how. You can also source books for it through there too. The site pretty much offers you everything except someone to come and build it. That's on you, Mr. or Mrs. HGTV.

Overall, I'd say it's an almost complete and total resource for everything you'd want to know about the little libraries. So why not have one in your yard? You may find yourself on a whole new adventure getting to know some of your neighbors. That's always fun, right?

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