Little Free Libraries are Ubiquitous
What other businesses might benefit from this product distribution strategy?
I live in one of those faux-urban neighborhoods, which features single-family homes, condos, townhouses and apartments, and includes a coffee shop, a microbrewery and a hair salon, and has lots of alleys, and a central village green, which is dotted with Adirondack chairs and cornhole game boards. Recently, a “Little Free Library” was installed at the edge of the village green.
For the uninitiated, a Little Free Library is a miniature structure, typically mounted on a wooden post - sometimes built to mimic the architecture of the house or building in front of which it stands - sometimes, not. Ours was designed as a replica of the barn which resides at the edge of our faux-urban neighborhood. You may rightly wonder why a barn resides on the property of a faux-urban neighborhood - that’s a terrific question!
Alright, I’ll tell you - the barn in question was there first - the property upon which the faux-urban neighborhood was constructed belonged to a family farm; given the state of farming these days, the farm family was likely better off selling their land to a developer, rather than continuing to farm.
Upon opening the glass doors to the Little Free Library housed in the tiny barn structure I found a treasure-trove of books, including: Animal Farm; Charlotte’s Web; and Anne of Green Gables. I’m kidding, there were no discernable farm-related books inside; some of the usual beach-book suspects were there, such as books by Grisham, Deaver, and Macomber. And, there were a bunch of books by authors of whom I have never heard.
The process is quite simple: if you have books you’d like to share with strangers, simply place the book in the Little Free Library; if you are, in fact, a stranger who would like to read a book which has been placed there, simply retrieve it and take it with you. No money changes hands in the course of these transactions, so it would be difficult to characterize this activity as capitalism; if anything, it’s more akin to socialism.
According to Little Free Library’s website, there are more than 150,000 locations in 120 countries around the world, which have shared over 300 million books, since the concept’s inception in 2009. That’s a lot of product being moved. Which caused me to wonder about other businesses and institutions which might be interested in availing themselves of this product-distribution strategy.
The Little Free Library itself has documented a few “out of the box” ideas on its website - these applications include: Hot Wheels toy cars; painted Kindness Rocks; food; yarn; baked goods; seed packets; sticks (Wait, what? Is there really a burning desire to have ready access to sticks?); sleds; artwork; and beach toys.
Research reveals that there were approximately 68,000 bars and nightclubs in the United States as of 2021 - a substantial number, I grant you, but does this number of establishments provide the appropriate level of saturation to slake the thirst of those in need of a drink? Imagine a Little Free Bar, which might be stocked with those cute, tiny alcohol bottles proffered to airline passengers. That Little Free Bar would be a welcome addition to my faux-urban neighborhood.
Or, how about a Little Free Pharmacy? Have you ever found yourself out and about, and in need of a quick fix for a headache, or stomach-pain, or pending intimacy? And, maybe the local pharmacy is already closed for the night? Never fear, the Little Free Pharmacy is right there, ready to fill your prescription, just beyond the Adirondack chairs and the cornhole game boards.
Given the large number of dogs being walked around our neighborhood (no cows, or goats, or chickens, as far as I can tell), a “Little Free Dog Treat Cupboard” would be a big hit, I’m sure. If I were negotiating its placement, however, in exchange for the opportunity to provide doggie treats to a steady stream of canine customers, I would insist upon also forcing plastic bags upon each recipient, with which to collect dog-poop, in order to minimize the deposits made onto my lawn.
I also feel that satisfying the need for recreation is important. So, the Rule of Three Games and Recreation Division spent time spitballing (you’ll quickly understand the strategic deployment of the term, “spitball”) ideas regarding what sports equipment could most effectively be dispensed by a “Little Free” unit. Many games feature some type of ball, and, recognizing that bowling is enjoying a bit of renaissance (I made that up for specific comedic purposes - I suspect that bowling is in a bit of a fallow period right now), surfaced the idea of a '“Little Free Bowling Ball Rack.” Rule of Three’s Product Engineering and Logistics department head pointed out that bowling balls are typically 8.5 inches in diameter, and weigh about fifteen pounds, which would necessitate that a much larger, load-bearing “Little Free” structure be built to house the balls.
Faced with this massive balls issue, another Rule of Three staffer suggested housing golf balls instead in the “Little Free Golf Ball Pro Shop.” That suggestion solved a number of looming issues: first and foremost, yielding a more appropriate ball size; second, golf is legitimately a very popular sport, circumventing the need for the award-winning columnist to simply “make stuff up” to suit whatever comedic narrative he wishes to promote; and, finally, satisfying a desperate product need, inasmuch as most drives off the tee end up in the woods, lost forever, necessitating replacement products secured from a visit to the Little Free Golf Ball Pro Shop. In fact, I believe that golf balls are the second-most widely replaced product in the world, ranked just below socks (because one of the two socks inevitably disappears during the washing/drying cycle).
Perhaps you have your own suggestions regarding what products could be provided via the “Little Free” business model. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below - they will likely be ignored by the Rule of Three Customer Service team, which is spending its time competing in a cornhole tournament on the village green right now. And, if their cornhole beanbags spring a leak, and become unusable, perhaps there will be a “Little Free Cornhole Beanbag Shoppe” nearby, from which they can procure replacements.
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How about dispensing Xanax at the teeenie tiny pharmacy....fuck the rest
Dog treats, dog doo-doo bags, hydration stations. And leash connectors! I’m learning that the Little Free Library/Kennel Club world is highly competitive. Haven’t gone there yet, but I’ve dipped my toe into some other ideas. As it happens, I’m working on my own post about my LFL, Thanksgiving week edition. Paying it forward.
Afraid the liquor bottles would be a very bad idea in my neighborhood, which is densely populated with college students. I return enough empties to front porches as it is. Those tiny ones get chewed up by the lawnmower.