Woman Turns 110-Year-Old Tree Into A Fairytale-Like Free (Tree) Library

Jan 15, 2019 by apost team

Sharalee Armitage Howard, an artist and resident of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, lived on a property with a massive cottonwood tree just outside her yard. The tree was at least 110 years old. Unfortunately, the tree started to rot and thus became a hazard to pedestrians and parked cars underneath it. Sharalee and her family, however, did not want to simply cut the tree down. They decided to convert it into a Free Little Library

The tree’s falling branches made it a danger, so the Howard family regretfully cut most of it down. They left a stump, however, that is at least twice as tall as a human. After hollowing it out, they installed shelves and working lights. They added a roof and a door, both of which were painted green. Sharalee then decorated the top of the door with miniature wooden books boasting such titles as “The Hobbit” and “Call of the Wild.” The Free Little Library also has stone steps for easy access.

Free Little Library is a non-profit organization based in Hudson, Wisconsin, devoted to establishing neighborhood book exchanges. It describes itself as the largest book-sharing organization in the world and began in 2009. There are now over 75,000 Free Little Libraries in 88 countries.

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Participants can either build their own libraries or order a prefab kit from Free Little Library to get started. They can then register their library with Free Little Library and get a sign with a unique number proclaiming them to be an official Library Steward. Stewards who buy kits are automatically registered.

Sharalee isn’t the only Steward with a novel Free Little Library. Somebody in Detroit erected a Free Little Library patterned on the TARDIS time machine from “Dr. Who.” It attracted attention from the National Book Foundation, just as Howard’s Free Little Library made the local news.

Visitors to the library can take a book and/or leave a book. The library operates on an honor system; people don’t have to return books they borrow by any given day. In order to ensure the library has a decent selection of books, frequent visitors should consider contributing books to the library.

Have you ever seen a free library? Let us know what you think about the idea of sharing books? Let us know in the comments and be sure to pass this article along to all book lovers you know!