Little Free Libraries are now to be found dotted around the country, giving people the chance to take a book at their leisure or to leave books behind for others, but where are they coming from?

The Little Free Library is a global phenomenon that began in the US state of Wisconsin in 2009 when the late Todd Bol built the first Little Free Library outside his house.

A schoolteacher himself, Todd felt the movement he founded could have a global impact. He once said, “I really believe in a Little Free Library on every block and a book in every hand. I believe people can fix their neighbourhoods, fix their communities, develop systems of sharing, learn from each other, and see that they have a better place on this planet to live.”

Over the last few years, Little Free Libraries have opened up all over the country. This summer saw a new addition open in the town park in Athenry, Co. Galway.

Erin Maglione was involved in its establishment and they called launch day ‘The Big Day Out’.

“We had a big event in Athenry park. We did a library grand opening, we had local authors come, we cut a ribbon and read stories,” she said.

The idea began as a chat among friends in the park

“We said it’d be nice if there was a place to share books and read and be outside. The public library here is great, but it’s not open every day. This is an easy thing to do to promote community involvement,” she said.

Anyone can take a book, or their old books there.

“You can take whatever you want, bring what you want. Some people will be cleaning their house out, they’ll bring a box of books and fill the whole library. By the next weekend it’s a whole new set of books, they just keep going in and out,” said Erin.

Joe Duff and Eamon Madden of Athenry Community Council upcycled an old utility box for the library, while it was painted by Tanya McGarry.

“She designed it in a way that promotes little things about Athenry, there are little creatures on it reading books about Athenry. It’s fun to look at.

“Athenry has a good history of writers living and writing here. There’s definitely a community here that enjoys reading and writing and the arts, and it’s nice to put that out there and make a visual thing of it,” she added.

For more information on Little Free Libraries go to https://littlefreelibrary.org/ or check out the Little Free Libraries Ireland Facebook group.