No, you can’t “steal” from a Little Free Library.
The concept of a Little Free Library is pretty self-evident: it’s a free book-sharing box where anyone can leave books they no longer want, or take books they find interesting. It’s 1.) little, 2.) free, and 3.) a library. I thought this was clear—until this past week, when Minnesota’s Bloomington Police Department posted this strange Tweet:
After some thefts from little libraries in our city, officers and staff came together to donate a bunch of books to the libraries. Now people can use and enjoy them again! ?? pic.twitter.com/bxXFRwri4S
— Bloomington Police (@BPD_MN) July 2, 2021
Immediately, thousands of Twitter users pointed out the obvious: that Little Free Libraries are, by nature, free. The point of Little Free Libraries is for books to get taken and used; if someone has removed all the books from a little free library, the library is working as it should be. And it’s certainly not a police matter!
But Bloomington PD doubled down:
An individual was taking every book from the libraries. It is common that they are then sold for a profit which is not the intent for the libraries.
— Bloomington Police (@BPD_MN) July 2, 2021
Notably, on the Little Free Library’s official FAQs page, the question “I think someone is stealing books from my library and selling them. What should I do?” is answered this way:
Remember that the purpose of a Little Free Library is to share books, so perhaps the person taking all the books doesn’t have any at home, or is distributing them to others in their apartment complex, school, or retirement community. Over the years we’ve heard from many stewards who’ve discovered that a book “thief” really wasn’t a thief at all.
(And, as several Twitter users pointed out: if someone is actually reselling these usually low-resale value books, maybe let them.)
Eventually, Bloomington PD changed their tune. Pressure works!
Regrettably, in our previous post we used the word theft to describe books being taken from a free library. We did not investigate this as a theft nor take a report. We simply responded by donating books that our BPD staff brought from home. A human error. Have a safe weekend.
— Bloomington Police (@BPD_MN) July 2, 2021
Several parties—like writer Nylah Burton and the Journal of Radical Librarianship—took the opportunity to outline a critique of Little Free Libraries themselves: that Little Free Libraries promote an optics of giving while reifying socioeconomic divides. (For instance, someone outside the socioeconomic bracket of a Little Free Library host may not actually be welcome on their private property to pick up a LFL book.)
For their part, the Little Free Library weighed in on the side of the book-takers, once again clarifying that the books in Little Free Libraries are, yes, freely exchanged.
Hello, everyone. Our stance has always been that Little Free Libraries are free book exchanges where anyone may take books or leave books. The books are freely exchanged.
— Little Free Library® (@LtlFreeLibrary) July 3, 2021
Said the Little Free Library account, explaining the purpose of a Little Free Library once again: “If people are taking books, that’s a good thing.”
