By Kate Daly | Special to the Almanac
Who knew circulating free books could turn into such a rewarding social phenomenon in this area?
Those cute little lending libraries housed in decorated boxes popping up in front of homes around the world are achieving just what the Wisconsin founder first imagined eight years ago: more reading and more community spirit.
The nonprofit Little Free Library has registered over 50,000 book boxes in more than 70 countries. A search of the Almanac readership area on the company's website, littlefreelibrary.org, shows 11 Little Free Library boxes located in Menlo Park and two in Emerald Hills.
The company requires people to pay $45 to sign up to be a "steward," and the rest is up to them to turn the simple motto "Take a book, return a book" into a neighborhood attraction.
Several local stewards shared their success stories.
Janet Simonson set up her box at 931 Menlo Oaks Drive in Menlo Park about six months ago after seeing a Little Free Library on Bay Road, and being inspired by her daughter's involvement with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, which provides free books to preschoolers.
Ms. Simonson did research on Pinterest looking for box-decorating ideas, and then bought an unfinished kit from Little Free Library for $325 on sale.
Her brother-in-law painted it and added a picket fence to make it match her 100-year-old house, and then mounted the box on a post.
She gathered up a pile of books her husband had bought and read, and some children's books she had collected over the years as a parent and grandparent. She placed a notice in her neighborhood association's electronic newsletter about their new box containing 20-plus free titles.
"The first day we met two sets of neighbors we'd never met before, and we've been here 28 years," she says.
Joe and Kathleen Kaz have lived in Emerald Hills at 546 Lakeview Way for over 45 years. They heard about the little libraries from a steward in San Carlos and Mr. Kaz, a contractor, ran with the idea, building and installing a 4-foot tall schoolhouse box with a cedar roof and bell tower in March.
Ever since then there has been a steady flow of customers taking, returning, and signing the guest book.
"I love it when little children ride their bikes and have a book in hand and take one ... even teenagers are riding by on their skateboards," Ms. Kaz says. " Grandmas and grandpas stop to read a story on the nearby bench, and sometimes we say, 'hello.'"
Mr. Kaz also built a donation box to help handle the overflow of incoming books. If books don't move off the shelves in a timely fashion, his wife donates them to the Redwood City Library or another Little Free Library in Menlo Park.
Sukumar Ramanthan read an article about book boxes three years ago and thought "it seemed like such a delightful, useful, economical idea."
He bought a kit, put together a base and a pole for support, and has been overseeing his family's library at 1141 Orange Ave. in Menlo Park ever since.
"We are so busy with our screens, it's a great idea to spur neighborliness and get away from our devices," he says.
People walk by with their dogs, or run or bike over from three or four streets away. He notices the 20 or so titles turn over about every three to four weeks. With some donations, it's obvious someone just purged the pantry and dropped off a bunch of cookbooks.
Instructional and religious books don't move well, so he has made some Goodwill runs with those.
Mr. Ramanthan is in a book club and works for Amazon in sales. His wife is a professor of medicine at Stanford. He describes their three kids as "big time users" of their Little Free Library, but says it has not cut into their family tradition of going downtown to the library every week.
Becky Bullard used to be a teacher and is now a stay-at-home mom with three kids at 1140 Cotton St. in Menlo Park.
They had spotted book boxes in other neighborhoods. Then Christmas of 2016, her father surprised her by creating a book box that looks like their chicken coop. It has eggs for knobs and a sign saying, "Reading is EGGciting!"
She sent around photos of the Bullard Book Coop to solicit book donations from friends and the box filled up in two days. Over the months she has seen the collection naturally divide into about half children's books and half novels and paperbacks that appeal to older patrons.
"It has been a great joy," she says to see so many repeat customers and to meet and talk with people who live a few doors down. Her kids, she says, "love to see what other people have dropped off."
Joanie Crombie asked for a box this past Christmas. Her daughter and son-in-law ordered it, painted it the same color as her house at 271 Sylvan Way in Emerald Hills, and bought the Little Free Library option: a starter set of 50 children's books.
"We have a really friendly neighborhood and lots of kids, and I like to keep it that way," she says. "It's about contributing to our community."
She has since added some mysteries and "good summer reading" for adults, and finds that, except for the classics, the books "go."
Tim Heaton likes to work with wood and built a Little Free Library out of recycled plywood after his wife, a high school teacher, noticed another box and they realized it would be a perfect place to redistribute books their kids had outgrown.
That was three years ago. The Winnie the Pooh their daughter and a friend painted on the side of the library box at 2031 Camino A Los Cerros in Menlo Park has faded and now needs a fresh coat.
Mr. Heaton says it's nice to meet people on their "very busy street." Most patrons are on foot but sometimes people pull up in a car and "poke their noses in there once in a while," he says, sort of reminding readers about the time Pooh got stuck in the honey jar.
