Local governments in large, medium and small cities are moving to handle this crisis. Los Angeles, Shreveport, LA and even little Leawood, KS have all levied fines and other sanctions against people who put up these tiny birdhouse-like lending libraries.
And that is just about what these little book barns resemble: tiny boxes on stilts, where anybody can leave behind a book, or take one of the books that have been left behind by others. They bring pleasure and encourage reading and sharing. They create a sense of civic participation and shared fun. Most of all, they encourage people to notice and read books. However, they violate obscure zoning and other ordinances. So they must be stopped! Ignorance must be persevered.
In the case of Los Angeles, city officials did say that the tiny library could stay if its creators applied for a permit, which could be funded through local arts organizations.
This is what conservatives and libertarians mean when they talk about overregulation disincentivizing or displacing voluntary activity that benefits people. We’ve constructed communities where one must obtain prior permission from agents of the state before freely sharing books with one’s neighbors! And their proposed solution is to get scarce public art funds to pay for the needless layer of bureaucracy being imposed on the thing already being done for free.
The power to require permits is the power to prevent something from ever existing. This lovely movement would’ve never begun or spread if everyone who wanted to build a Little Free Library recognized a need to apply and pay for a permit. Instead they did good and asked permission never. Source: io9.com
Amazing that this would be an issue in the first place.
This reminds me when several years ago newspapers wanted laws against people sharing their newspapers because they were loosing revenues from the sharing.
I just can’t image a town refusing its citizens the ability to share and read books.
Little libraries rotflmao….
@[1267332610:2048:Randi Barrow Turman].
How small minded can you get?! Something good and some idiots have to ruin it!!
They can’t monitor what your reading, so they don’t like that.
I saw some of these while in Colorado and I thought it was pretty cool myself
Hmmm interesting thought.