Special Pricing for Libraries and Schools
Expand your reach and impact by bringing Little Free Library book-sharing boxes to your community! Little Free Libraries provide 24/7 access to books year round. They’re a great way to combat the summer slide and make reading a fun, accessible part of everyday life.
There is no one-size-fits-all roadmap to get started, but we’ve broken down the process into a few key steps that may help you organize your project:
- Identify a location: Choose somewhere public and easily accessible, such as school or library property, a city park, or in front of a local partner business.
- Choose your steward: The steward is the point of contact for the library and responsible for maintenance and upkeep.
- Purchase or build a library: View our discounts for public libraries or practice your woodworking skills to build your own!
- Register your library: Officially register with a charter sign from us to access all of the steward resources we provide. Note that libraries purchased from us are already registered!
- Sustain your library: Maintain a book supply, engage with the community, and expand book access!
Increasing Rural Book Access
Baxter County Library is a public library system located in the Arkansas Ozarks community of Mountain Home. The Library offers educational and cultural programming and exhibits for all
ages. They expand their outreach efforts through their Early Literacy Project, in part by establishing Little Free Library book-sharing boxes. Led by Kim Crow Sheaner and Charlene Smith,this project establishes partnerships with local schools and city sites to place the libraries, engages library volunteers to maintain the boxes, and utilizes the Early Literacy Committee to secure funding and make strategic decisions. In 2025, they shared almost 3800 books through their 12 Little Free Libraries across Baxter County, which has 43,000 residents.
Important Considerations and Resources
What funding sources could you leverage to start a Little Free Library?
- Hold community fundraisers to raise funds to purchase or build Little Free Libraries. Or, you can auction off Little Free Libraries to community members to raise money for your library.
- Apply for local and national grants to cover the cost of a Little Free Library.
- Work with Friends of the Library and Library Foundation groups to organize and fundraise.
How could you use volunteers to assist?
- Assign public library volunteers to sort weeded book supply and help with stewardship duties.
- Utilize your Friends of the Library group to help with book stocking and fundraising.
- Sign up to recieve volunteer support through Little Free Library’s community engagement initiative, Team LFL!
Do you have any local partnerships that you could collaborate with on stewardship of a Little Free Library?
- City parks or municipal locations, such as fire stations and city buildings.
- Schools
- Local businesses
- Kiwanis, Rotary, and Lion’s clubs
Utilize resources from Little Free Library:
- Dedicated support to help you get each of your little libraries on our world map.
- Targeted local outreach to help you spread the word through our email lists.
- Unique resource downloads like event flyers and project plans to make it easy to get started.
Benefits of a Little Free Library Book-Sharing Program
1. Supporting Literacy: Little Free Library book-sharing boxes improve book access and thus help tackle low literacy rates. By providing books all year ’round, they can mitigate the “summer slide” where kids’ reading skills slip. And 24-hour availability makes it possible for kids and working parents to share books at times that are convenient.
2. Demonstrating a Reading Lifestyle: A book-sharing box populated with books for all ages on a variety of subjects will attract patrons from different parts of the community. Participation by such a range of users, from little kids to seniors, shows budding readers the value our culture places on books and encourages good reading habits.
3. Forging Partnerships with Parents: When schools, libraries and parents work together, the outcomes can be powerful. Parents can be important advocates, and they can play a critical role in the funding, implementation, and maintenance of a Little Free Library book-sharing network, whether it be for a school, a library or an entire system.
4. Establishing New Avenues of Community Service: Libraries and schools have established Little Free Library book-sharing boxes beyond their properties as a way to engage with their communities. Volunteers, service groups, and students can assemble kits and maintain book supplies for locations where books are few. A Little Free Library program can attract new partnerships with community groups and demonstrate a heightened commitment to the neighborhoods served.
Little Free Library Success Stories
See how San Diego County installed 100 libraries to increase book access in low-income communities in their county.
What if you could put up a book-sharing box at every elementary school in your town to give kids access to books anytime? That’s what they’re up to in Detroit, putting little libraries at all 97 of their schools.
Installing Little Free Libraries can be a thoughtful way to celebrate a special event, too. Southwest Tech, a two-year college in Fennimore, Wisconsin, celebrated their 50th anniversary by setting up 50 Little Free Libraries throughout their district!
Benefits of a Little Free Library Book-Sharing Program
1. Supporting Literacy: Little Free Library book-sharing boxes improve book access and thus help tackle low literacy rates. By providing books all year ’round, they can mitigate the “summer slide” where kids’ reading skills slip. And 24-hour availability makes it possible for kids and working parents to share books at times that are convenient.
2. Demonstrating a Reading Lifestyle: A book-sharing box populated with books for all ages on a variety of subjects will attract patrons from different parts of the community. Participation by such a range of users, from little kids to seniors, shows budding readers the value our culture places on books and encourages good reading habits.
3. Forging Partnerships with Parents: When schools, libraries and parents work together, the outcomes can be powerful. Parents can be important advocates, and they can play a critical role in the funding, implementation, and maintenance of a Little Free Library book-sharing network, whether it be for a school, a library or an entire system.
4. Establishing New Avenues of Community Service: Libraries and schools have established Little Free Library book-sharing boxes beyond their properties as a way to engage with their communities. Volunteers, service groups, and students can assemble kits and maintain book supplies for locations where books are few. A Little Free Library program can attract new partnerships with community groups and demonstrate a heightened commitment to the neighborhoods served.
Little Free Library Success Stories
What if you could put up a book-sharing box at every elementary school in your town to give kids access to books anytime? That’s what they’re up to in Detroit, putting little libraries at all 97 of their schools.
Installing Little Free Libraries can be a thoughtful way to celebrate a special event, too. Southwest Tech, a two-year college in Fennimore, Wisconsin, celebrated their 50th anniversary by setting up 50 Little Free Libraries throughout their district!
And see how San Diego County installed 100 libraries to increase book access in low-income communities in their county.
For more information about how to create a network of Little Free Libraries, download this PDF.