6 ms·

I build these and have one at my house. Its been interesting. Had some teenagers try to blow it up with fireworks. Have to constantly remove proselytizing, m

I build these and have one at my house. Its been interesting. Had some teenagers try to blow it up with fireworks. Have to constantly remove proselytizing, mostly christian, pamphlets from it. Had to buy a stamp https://littlefreelibrary.myshopify.com/products/self-inking-standard-artisan-stamp https://littlefreelibrary.myshopify.com/products/self-inking... so drug addicts don't clear it out sell the books to buy smack. Other than hat its been mostly self sustaining.

PacificSpecific 7mo ago
Did the stamp work out?
- sigwinch 7mo ago
  Ideally, what should the stamp say?
  - PacificSpecific 7mo ago
    It says in the OP's link. I was just wondering if book buyers respected the stamp and furthermore if the people stealing the books recognize it enough to be deterred.
    - not_the_fda 7mo ago
      Yes the places that buy used books respect the stamp. They usually take all the books and take them to some place Half Priced Books https://www.hpb.com/ https://www.hpb.com/ for some quick cash. Places like that won't buy them if they are stamped. They could try selling them on Amazon or E-Bay, but that's too much effort for quick cash to get a fix.
      - PacificSpecific 7mo ago
        Thanks very much for the info. I'm building one now in a city with a fairly rough drug problem and I had no idea the stamp existed.
ddtaylor 7mo ago
Drug addicts mess with them in most of the states I have been to, including Oregon, Washington, California, Maryland and New York.
- lukan 7mo ago
  Ah man, even my hometown in germany, which I consider to have a big drug problem - somehow manages to have these libaries(usually in old telephone cells) without junkies clearing them out. Apparently things can be worse it seems, what a shame.
- owenversteeg 7mo ago
  Interesting. In New Hampshire and Vermont they seem to be mostly fine (if usually full of very bland romance books.) In the Netherlands there is a broader selection of books in my experience but they are more often vandalized / emptied.
wccrawford 7mo ago
My wife wanted one of these so bad that she fought the HOA on it to install one. It's been better than you describe, but yeah... Pamphlets, stolen books, etc. And we know they were "stolen" because if all the good books disappear at once and never return, you know someone stole them. I've considered getting a stamp... But just haven't bothered yet. If the thefts start to really bother my wife, I'll get one. She gets a ton of joy from seeing kids use it. And that's what really matters.
- SamBam 7mo ago
  I don't understand the meaning of the word "stolen" in this context. I've never seen a LFL with explicit rules on who can or cannot take out the books, or what they're allowed to do with the books afterward. If someone sees "all the good books," are they not allowed to want all the good books? What if they take them and don't get around to reading them, are they stealing them? I understand that there's a potential tragedy of the commons with a LFL, but if I put some of my books in one, am not going to worry about whether they're being read the "right" way. Mostly I'm happy to have had a place to donate my books, and figure there's a non-zero chance they'll be read again.
  - eudamoniac 7mo ago
    It means taken with the intent to resell, not to read.
    - SamBam 7mo ago
      Sure, but how do you honestly know that? Is it based on the profile of the person you see looking through them? Some people don't look like they should be readers? Or the fact that the "good ones" -- the ones that people presumably want to read -- get taken? I guess I'm happier not getting angry over things that I don't know for sure, I'm happier generally assuming the best of my neighbors, and I accept that the books are out of my control once I drop them off at the library.
      - 7mo ago
pickleglitch 7mo ago
There's a little neighborhood park where I live, just down the street, where there have been 2 attempts to setup one of these. The first one was poorly constructed and the door fell off after just a couple of weeks. The second one I think the neighborhood kids broke on purpose. This, of course, after taking the books out and lighting them on fire for fun. There were charred pages all over for days. We're lucky they didn't catch the brush, of which there is plenty, on fire. I've considered trying to build one myself, but I know it would just end up the same way.

PacificSpecific 7mo ago

Did the stamp work out?

sigwinch 7mo ago
Ideally, what should the stamp say?
- PacificSpecific 7mo ago
  It says in the OP's link. I was just wondering if book buyers respected the stamp and furthermore if the people stealing the books recognize it enough to be deterred.
  - not_the_fda 7mo ago
    Yes the places that buy used books respect the stamp. They usually take all the books and take them to some place Half Priced Books https://www.hpb.com/ https://www.hpb.com/ for some quick cash. Places like that won't buy them if they are stamped. They could try selling them on Amazon or E-Bay, but that's too much effort for quick cash to get a fix.
    - PacificSpecific 7mo ago
      Thanks very much for the info. I'm building one now in a city with a fairly rough drug problem and I had no idea the stamp existed.

ddtaylor 7mo ago

Drug addicts mess with them in most of the states I have been to, including Oregon, Washington, California, Maryland and New York.

lukan 7mo ago
Ah man, even my hometown in germany, which I consider to have a big drug problem - somehow manages to have these libaries(usually in old telephone cells) without junkies clearing them out. Apparently things can be worse it seems, what a shame.
owenversteeg 7mo ago
Interesting. In New Hampshire and Vermont they seem to be mostly fine (if usually full of very bland romance books.) In the Netherlands there is a broader selection of books in my experience but they are more often vandalized / emptied.

wccrawford 7mo ago

My wife wanted one of these so bad that she fought the HOA on it to install one. It's been better than you describe, but yeah... Pamphlets, stolen books, etc. And we know they were "stolen" because if all the good books disappear at once and never return, you know someone stole them. I've considered getting a stamp... But just haven't bothered yet. If the thefts start to really bother my wife, I'll get one. She gets a ton of joy from seeing kids use it. And that's what really matters.

SamBam 7mo ago
I don't understand the meaning of the word "stolen" in this context. I've never seen a LFL with explicit rules on who can or cannot take out the books, or what they're allowed to do with the books afterward. If someone sees "all the good books," are they not allowed to want all the good books? What if they take them and don't get around to reading them, are they stealing them? I understand that there's a potential tragedy of the commons with a LFL, but if I put some of my books in one, am not going to worry about whether they're being read the "right" way. Mostly I'm happy to have had a place to donate my books, and figure there's a non-zero chance they'll be read again.
- eudamoniac 7mo ago
  It means taken with the intent to resell, not to read.
  - SamBam 7mo ago
    Sure, but how do you honestly know that? Is it based on the profile of the person you see looking through them? Some people don't look like they should be readers? Or the fact that the "good ones" -- the ones that people presumably want to read -- get taken? I guess I'm happier not getting angry over things that I don't know for sure, I'm happier generally assuming the best of my neighbors, and I accept that the books are out of my control once I drop them off at the library.
    - 7mo ago

pickleglitch 7mo ago

There's a little neighborhood park where I live, just down the street, where there have been 2 attempts to setup one of these. The first one was poorly constructed and the door fell off after just a couple of weeks. The second one I think the neighborhood kids broke on purpose. This, of course, after taking the books out and lighting them on fire for fun. There were charred pages all over for days. We're lucky they didn't catch the brush, of which there is plenty, on fire. I've considered trying to build one myself, but I know it would just end up the same way.