Friends of Montclair Library

The Montclair library may be closed for budget reasons today, but Merriewood folks can still access their own mini library, started by resident Jennifer Fish. As Ginny Prior reported in the Montclarion a while back, Fish got the idea from the Little Free Library movement, which seeks to promote literacy, the love of reading and a sense of community through free book exchanges. She started out with a few books in a box outside her home, and now the outpost has grown so popular a neighbor is building the library a permanent home.

The guerilla library concept seems to be taking off around the world, from converted phone booths in New York City and the UK to bus stops in Paris and Ljubljana. Read the GeekMom article “Tiny Libraries Everywhere” for even more ideas for extending libraries and book sharing into the community.