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If this were an LCSH... the libraries I'm featuring might be cataloged with this subject heading.  I want to document libraries that aren't:  publicly-funded, big, school, university, corporate, scientific, "normal"....


These unique libraries are created by individuals or communities who see a need and have come up with a creative way to fill their need for a library.  I think it's important to know about these libraries and perhaps support them.  History has shown that libraries come in all shapes and sizes, that not all-sizes-fit-all, and that future generations can learn from past libraries.

The Prelinger Library

This is a photo of the Prelingers in their library in San Francsico, CA. The mission of the library is to preserve and share elements of the past others were content to discard. It is an appropriation-friendly collection of about 50,000 books, periodicals, printed ephemera and government documents. Please visit their website for the flavor of their collection and activities by clicking here. To read a blog posting by Kevin Kelly (founder of Wired magazine) about the Prelinger, click here.

The Interstitial Library

Do not pass up a visit to this library's website...click here.... it may take you a few minutes to understand, but when you do.... it's brilliant.  We can all become Interstitial Librarians and contribute to the circulating collection.  I plan on carrying one of their acquisitions kits with me so I can contribute titles.  You will want to, too!  Catalogers:  don't miss the cataloging rules page.



New York City's Popup Libraries

New York architect, John Locke, saw the thousands of seemingly pointless and obsolete payphones in the city.  He decided to put them to better use and created shelving units that fit perfectly into the open booths.

Local residents donated the books to get started.  John said he didn't want to mark the books or give explicit instructions that they were for sharing.  Some users were confused and suggested there be a sign saying something like:  Take one - Leave one.

Bookcrossing.com

I suppose bookcrossing.com is the embodiment of this concept of book-sharing in public. You can track your books to see who picks them up and then shares them. Here's how they describe themselves:

What is BookCrossing?

It's the World's Library. It's a smart social networking site. It's a celebration of literature and a place where books get new life. BookCrossing is the act of giving a book a unique identity so, as the book is passed from reader to reader, it can be tracked and thus connecting its readers. There are currently 1,110,357 BookCrossers and 9,134,815 books travelling throughout132 countries. Our community is changing the world and touching lives one book at a time.


Bookcrossing Bookcase in Germany, click here to read about it:

Phone Box as Tiny Library

In Somerset, England a tiny library has been created using an old phone box (or booth as we say in the States).  Holding 100 books, CDs and DVDs it was created by a local resident when the community lost its mobile library.  Click here for more info.

Chinatown Storefront Library, Boston

Boston's Chinatown had been without a library since 1956.  In a collaborative effort, Street Lab, Friends of the Chinatown Library and some grad students from Harvard a vacant storefront was turned into a temporary community library.  Find out more by clicking here.

The Uni Project

Recycled Shipping Container Children's Library

BiebBus (click Here) is a portable children's library in The Netherlands built from a recycled shipping container. Architect Jord den Hollander came up with this fun idea for the pop-up library to support communities who lack funds or space. 

Tower of Babel Sculpture

This spiraling tower in Buenos Aires was built with over 30,000 donated books.  The sculpture was built with books donated from all over the world in honor of the city being named the 2011 World Book Capital. When it was time to take the sculpture down, visitors were encouraged to pick and book and take it home with them.

Watch the Video!!

Corner Library

The K.I.D.S. (Kindness and Imagination Development Society) Corner Library sits on the corner of Leonard and Withers in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It is a dog house-sized hut filled with donated books, graphic novels, zines, DVDs, CDs, and other goodies. Interested patrons are issued a library card and code to the door lock. You get two weeks to check out your title, and potentially come up with a donation of your own.  For more info click here.

Reanimation Library

Located in Brooklyn, the Reanimation Library is an independent library branch that houses a collection of discarded books. We’re talking about bizarre, outdated throwaways that this library has deemed worthy of your time. They find their collection at thrift stores, stoop sales, and random discard piles, giving them new life as ” … a resource for artists, writers, cultural archeologists, and other interested parties.”  Sometimes libraries are created to fit a special need for a special population.. this would be one of them.  For more info, click here.

Little Free Libraries

Annette introduced us to the Little Free Libraries.  This little free library is located in Indianapolis and is a project of the Sycamore School 4th grade on 64th Street.  Visit the Little Free Library's website here.  Listen or read the interview on All Things Considered, the NPR news program here.  The founders are trying to beat Andrew Carnegie's record of founding 2,500 libraries in the U.S.  The nice thing about even an informal organization of these tiny libraries is to avoid what has happened to this poor thing on the campus of the University of Chicago... it has fallen into disrepair...sniff....

The Read/Write Library

The Read/Write Library (formerly known as the Chicago Underground Library) promotes indie/small press media and contains a diverse, local collection with everything from zines to art journals.  It is run by volunteers and librarians and hosts readings, performances, games and music.  People discover connections between local Chicagoans by browsing the academic works or the self-published novels sharing the shelves.  For more info click here.

Dog Eared: A Pop Up Library in Mumbai

Sometimes libraries have a limited timeframe.  Dog Eared: The Pop Up Library was a temporary library/bookshop event in Mumbai, India August 17-26, 2011.  Since there are not many bookstores and limited access to libraries in Mumbai, Apnavi Thacker came up with the idea.  During the event books were collected for the public to barter and browse.  On the last day, visitors were invited back to choose the same number of books they donated.  To see the Dog Eared's Facebook event page, click here.

The Public Library of American Public Library Deaccession

While not a real library, this website which was created as part of an art installation by Julia Weist and Myaan Pearl that explore the books that libraries withdraw from their collection.  They have created an archive, both physical and digital, of books discarded from U.S. libraries.  Check out the website here.


Selfridge's Library

Selfridges, a department store in the UK, also created a temporary library in the basement of their building where the public could browse and buy a range of books and also attend a series of lectures and workshops featuring writers in residence, story tellers and literary products.  To see more pictures of the library click here.

Chapman Partnership's Homeless 
Assistance Center

This is Lilli Leight who just won an Innovations in Reading award from the National Book Foundation.  She has volunteered at the Chapman Partnership's Homeless Assistance Center in Miami, FL and noticed there were no books for the children (especially) to use.  She began collecting used books from friends, schools, and local organizations and a local bookstore.  She created a 5,000 book "giving library."  Every child has books around them, and when they leave each child can take as many books as he or she wants.  Read more about Lilli here.

Street Books Mobile Library

Another Innovation in Reading award winner this year is the Street Books mobile library for people living outside.  Street Books offers a way to check out books for patrons who are unable to use a regular library because of lack of identification or proof of address.  Hundreds of patrons have been served and many become regulars who return weekly.   Read more about them here.

Occupy Wall Street Library

The Occupy Wall Street movement included libraries at many locations.  Above is an image of the New York City library.  Read about it here.  It was destroyed one night by the NYPD, which Cory Doctorow reports here.  I think the Occupy libraries demonstrate once again the importance of libraries to every human community--we create them when we need them.

May Day Pop Up Library

When the Occupy Wall Street Library was destroyed, the leftovers were snapped up by Adam Wiesehan and Margaret Day who decided to create a pop up library and chose May Day to pop it up in Brooklyn.  The shelving units held about 60 books at a time and were restocked throughout the day as visitors took the books home.  People took books, but also donated them.  Wiesehan and Day hope to pop this library back up later in 2012.  To read more click here.

Ebook Lending Library 

Just as some of us (like Annette Lamb) like to loan out our personal print books either formally or informally, now we can loan out our personal eBooks!  The eBook Exchange is a website where people can loan out ebooks they have purchased using the loan feature on Kindles and Nooks.  To read about the eBook Exchange's vision, click here. 

Meanwhile,back home in Indiana....

Tara's Country Library

Tara Miller started a library in her garage to fill the need in her township without a library.  Tara, who has a developmental disability, opens her doors every Monday and Friday from 9 to noon so her neighbors can browse and check out her books.  Many of the nearby residents are Amish and would have to make a nine-mile trip to Goshen to visit a library.  Read more about Tara here.

Branch AnyWhere

This is a photo of me with the book vending machine library BranchAnywhere of the Plainfield Public Library in Plainfield, Indiana located at their Recreation & Aquatic Center.  It is a unique kind of library that can be open 24 hours a day in a frequently visited location and will allow patrons to check out and return items.  I checked out The Cat in the Hat and then returned it... too fun!  However, too expensive if you ask me.... and (unlike my iPhone) you can't ask it reference questions! ;-)  For more information on these machines click here.

Joyce Public Library, Orland, Indiana

Orland, Indiana's public library is operated  by volunteers and does not receive property tax money for its support, but it has been thriving in this small town in northeast Indiana for many years.  Some of its funding comes from the town, but they charge membership fees of $10 per year and raise money from dinners and events.  John Kirriemuir, information professional and library aficionado, gives a wonderful overview of the library here.

Middlebury Public Library

Terry Rheinheimer, Library Director of the Middlebury Community Public Library in Middlebury Indiana began this library in 1979 in an old garage that was formerly a bait & tackle shop.  It is now a beautiful brick building and just celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2009.  Rheinheimer has been the director from the beginning. The town wanted a library and asked her to start one.  They needed special legislation from the State to begin the library because the town was too small.  Today, there are over 11,000 cardholders and up-to-date technology in a 16,800 square foot building.  This is a 'home-grown' public library that may be impossible to replicate today.  For more information click here. 

I hope you have enjoyed my exploration of unique, alternative, fun, tiny, temporary, high tech, low tech, recycled, reused, beautiful, ugly?, libraries.  There are more out there, keep your eyes and ears open.  We are libraries and libraries are us!  I think my final library in Middlebury shows that sometimes alternative libraries become mainstream.  And really, libraries began as something new, different, revolutionary... and so we continue!!