Little Free Library
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Tom McCarthy, Townsquare Media

Normally I ride my bike the 1.6 miles (according to Google Maps) to work. Between alleys, side streets and avoidance of traffic lights, it usually takes about the same amount of time as if I were to drive.

Today, though, I decided to give the bike a break an hoof it in on foot. You’d be amazed at the number of things that you miss when driving in a car, or even when riding a bike. For example, I now know that roughly 12 squirrels sync their morning breakfast with my daily commute, at least three Durbin Street houses have dark brown trim, a well tended garden can be an excellent alternative to a green lawn, and there is something called the “Little Free Library.”

Intersection of 11th and Durbin Streets in Casper
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Tom McCarthy, Townsquare Media

Located on the corner of Durbin and East 11th Streets, coincidentally, exactly three blocks from both my current home and the house I grew up in, there is a little yellow box perched atop a short brick retaining wall. When I came upon the box, My curiosity immediately took hold. I put both my walk and Pandora on pause.

Upon closer examination, I discovered that this was not just some random yellow box, mostly helped along by the big sign on the side of the container, I learned that it was in fact the “Little Free Library.” What a cool idea!

“Take a book, leave a book.”

As near as I can tell, it is not associated in any way with the Natrona County Public Library and it functions strictly on the honor system. If you take a book, you leave a book. It’s that simple.

Little Free Library Books
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Tom McCarthy, Townsquare Media

When I opened the glass-paneled door of the “library” I found books covering a variety of topics, from authors like Dr. Seuss, David Baldacci and Philip Kerr. Though the collection may be slightly lacking in number (14 books to be exact), it would seem that the collection is truly only limited by the those who participate in the book exchange… which is what this is after all.

I repeat, what a cool idea! In a world now dominated by Kindles, Nooks and the iTunes Book Store, it is refreshing to see a bastion of the Old School standing strong in the Casper community. Who knows, maybe I’ll be walking through some other neighborhood someday and find another library perched on a fence. What do you say? Challenge accepted?

In the meantime, why not stop by this Little Free Library and share the love?

Oh yeah, one more thing, every now and again put away the keys and Take a walk. You never know what you might discover along the way…

Visit the “Little Free Library”:



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