My husband built our LFL, and another lady from our church painted it up pretty. You need to ensure it's waterproof, and a plexi glass 'window' as part of the door is most suitable. Expect it to cost between $400 - $600 to build.
We applied for and received a $500 grant from Classis Toronto, so that really helped us a lot.
Mark, I love the way your community is getting involved in your LFL. That is the hope and prayer for ours as well. We also have thought of adding a food pantry in the future. For now, we're just enjoying the early days of watching the neighbours enjoy it, and share books with each other. We've had some great conversations at the bench already too. Our charter # is 140685.
Our church, Living Hope CRC, Orillia, Ontario (Canada) just set up a Little Free Library in mid-May 2022 on the front lawn of the church. We are on a street that gets a lot of walk-by traffic from shoppers and schools, so I'm excited to say it's been very well used right from the start. I would suggest starting with one LFL for all ages, but give the kids books and adult books there own space. Make your LFL bright, colourful and inviting. Be sure to include your congregation in this ministry, so your church takes ownership of it too; invite them to donate books. We added a prayer loft in the 'attic', where prayer requests can be left in a little locked box, and that has also been a blessing. We have different 'stewards' each month, and they are responsible for stocking it, keeping it tidy, and spending some time on the bench beside the LFL, allowing the Spirit to guide us in striking up conversations with folks. Our focus is that the LFL is a ministry to and for our neighbours. There are lots of ideas on the littlefreelibrary.org website. I recommend that you register with this non-profit and join their FaceBook page. There is a separate FaceBook page for stewards. Lots of great ideas and encouragement there.
Posted in: Does Your Church Have a "Little Free Library"?
Hi Staci,
My husband built our LFL, and another lady from our church painted it up pretty. You need to ensure it's waterproof, and a plexi glass 'window' as part of the door is most suitable. Expect it to cost between $400 - $600 to build.
We applied for and received a $500 grant from Classis Toronto, so that really helped us a lot.
Posted in: Does Your Church Have a "Little Free Library"?
Mark, I love the way your community is getting involved in your LFL. That is the hope and prayer for ours as well. We also have thought of adding a food pantry in the future. For now, we're just enjoying the early days of watching the neighbours enjoy it, and share books with each other. We've had some great conversations at the bench already too. Our charter # is 140685.
Posted in: Does Your Church Have a "Little Free Library"?
Hi Stacy,
Our church, Living Hope CRC, Orillia, Ontario (Canada) just set up a Little Free Library in mid-May 2022 on the front lawn of the church. We are on a street that gets a lot of walk-by traffic from shoppers and schools, so I'm excited to say it's been very well used right from the start. I would suggest starting with one LFL for all ages, but give the kids books and adult books there own space. Make your LFL bright, colourful and inviting. Be sure to include your congregation in this ministry, so your church takes ownership of it too; invite them to donate books.
We added a prayer loft in the 'attic', where prayer requests can be left in a little locked box, and that has also been a blessing. We have different 'stewards' each month, and they are responsible for stocking it, keeping it tidy, and spending some time on the bench beside the LFL, allowing the Spirit to guide us in striking up conversations with folks. Our focus is that the LFL is a ministry to and for our neighbours.
There are lots of ideas on the littlefreelibrary.org website. I recommend that you register with this non-profit and join their FaceBook page. There is a separate FaceBook page for stewards. Lots of great ideas and encouragement there.
Hope this helps a bit!
Jerianne Batterink