Happy Reading Aldershot!

Check out the latest member of the Little Free Library family! This lovely LFL can be found on Church Lane East in Aldershot and is hosted by Park Church. The lovely LFL is opposite St Michael's Junior School and is set to be a great resource for the local children.

Headteacher of St Michael's, Steph Tyler, said, "Reading is such an important life skill that opens our minds to opportunities we might never otherwise explore.  I don't know where I would have been without books over the course of my life.  Sharing a book with young children is such an important aspect of child development and is the start of a journey which will hopefully stay with them for life."

Happy Reading Aldershot!!

TARDIS Little Free Library materialises in East London

Our latest creation has landed in a Kids' Park in East London. Made from FSC certified timber and finished in, well TARDIS blue!

It has a shelf for kids books and another for everyone else. We came up to London on 1st December to install it in Bisterne Avenue Park. It was commissioned by Caramel Quin, who will be acting as the resident Little Free Library steward. Come by and pick up a book!

Caramel and friends got into the festive spirit to celebrate the opening of their new TARDIS Little Free Library. It's sure to be a great asset to the local community, in Walthamstow, where it joins the UK's largest neighbourhood network of LFLs.

Happy reading!


By Nick Cheshire
Director
Little Free Library Project UK
littlefreelibraryproject@mail.com

Two more Little Free Libraries for Essex village

Over the past couple of years we've worked in partnership with Thundersley Congregational Church to create a network of Little Free Libraries for the local community to share their love of reading.

They have proved to be a great success! Two more have recently been created and will be installed in September in the run up to the Noise Arts Festival. The brilliant designs are by our artist Kiko Honda Powell.

"The Essex Little Free Libraries have been really popular, it's great to see two more being added to the network." Nick Cheshire, Director, Little Free Library Project UK.

Happy reading Thundersley!

The existing Little Free Libraries can be found at a range of Thundersley locations including Kingston Primary School, Thundersley Congregational Church and even the local swimming pool!

The swimming pool Little Free Library by artist Emma Russell

Happy reading Thundersley!

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Swindon's first Little Free Library

Every Little Free Library is completely unique and Swindon's first is no different. We were lucky enough to work with the supremely talented Lynette Thomas of Artkore Mosaics, who has created a stunning artwork that will be on show, and offering free books to the community, outside Savernake Street Social Hall in Swindon's Old Town.

The project has been created in partnership with the Eastcott Community Organisation who run a range of community events at the Savernake Street venue including a Free Shop and a regular reading group. Find out more about upcoming events here. The LFL was made possible by a grant from Swindon Borough Council.

The Little Free book exchange was launched on Sunday 12 July at the communty's Big Lunch and Neighbourhood Party event and people began to take and donate books straight away.

The intricate mosaic art makes use of recycled pottery and china including cups, plates and even old teapots, which are broken into colourful pieces of varying size to create the beautiful design. As far as we know its the first ceramic mosaic Little Free Library in the world and will take pride of place on the Little Free Library world map in due course.

"This is the first, but we're hoping to create many more Little Free Libraries in Swindon and the South West of England." said Nick Cheshire, Director of Little Free Library UK. There are currently two Little Free Libraries in Bath and one set to open in Torbay later this summer with work underway for a Bristol project too.

"I have really enjoyed creating the Little Free Library mosaic." said artist Thomas. The hosts agreed on a nature theme and Thomas did the rest. Stunning!

www.littlefreelibraryproject.org.uk

Central London's first Little Free Library

To help celebrate their 50th anniversary, International Students House (ISH) has worked in partnership with us at Little Free Library Project to create central London's first Little Free Library.

A full scale replica phone box, full of brilliant books, was officially opened on 14 May by author John Rogers. John's book, This Other London: Adventures in the overlooked city, tells the story of John's journey to discover some of the more overlooked and unusual aspects of our wonderful international city, like our latest Little Free Library.

Central London's first Little Free Library is located outside International Students House at 229 Great Portland Street, London (opposite Great Portland Street tube station).

Little Free Libraries take many forms, from small house shaped boxes with various artistic designs to phone boxes and even a TARDIS. They are installed in front gardens, cafes, pubs and community spaces and of course, now, outside International Students House. Here are a few of our other Little Free Libraries.

Walthamstow, art by cartoonist Tim Reedy

Hackney, art by urban artist Hannah Adamaszek

Woolwich, art by illustrator Emma Russell

Find out more at www.littlefreelibraryproject.org.uk. Happy reading!

Kickstart our school project and receive your very own Little Free Library

Heathmere Primary school doesn't have a school library at the moment. To help promote a love of reading at the school and provide a regular supply of engaging books, we've teamed up with 'Give a Book' to build a mini network of Little Free Libraries at Heathmere.

We've created a new Kickstarter project to help raise the funds for this much needed school project. We're asking you to support us if you can by pledging any amount starting at £1. However, if you, your community or an organisation you represent is willing to pledge £250, we'll build you your very own Little Free Library too.

Find out more by following the link to our project below:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1332488210/little-free-libraries-for-heathmere-primary-school

To give you some inspiration, here are a few of our recent Little Free Libraries. Happy reading!

Julius Zebra set to open School's new Little Free Library

On 5 May we'll be officially opening a new Little Free Library at Heathmere Primary School in Wandsworth, South West London. To help us we've invited along author and illustrator Gary Northfield, creator of the brilliant Julius Zebra.

The Little Free Library was built from 100% recycled materials and decorated by one of our in-house artists with an inspiring fairytale theme. It will be located in the school playground where children will have access to books at break times as well as before and after school.

We are working with our partners Give a Book on this exciting new project, who will be donating books to the Little Free Library throughout the year.

Gary will cut the ribbon to officially open the new LFL as well as reading from his book and getting the children involved in a draw-along so they can learn how to create their own version of Julius Zebra. 

"Heathmere Primary School doesn't currently have a school library, which is why projects like this can be so beneficial. The children will be able to access free books to take home and keep, as well as sharing their favourite stories with each other." said Nick Cheshire, LFL Project Director.

The school would like two more Little Free Libraries to be created and installed over the next few months. We'll be launching a fundraising campaign on 5 May to help make this happen. 

Read about the Little Free Library in the Wandsworth Guardian here.

www.littlefreelibraryproject.org.uk

World Book Night events from Little Free Library Project UK

World Book Night is a celebration of our love of reading and an opportunity for people in communities across the country and across the world to share books with one another.

Little Free Libraries and World Book Night were made for each other. Every day people around the world share books with one another to promote reading via a network of more than 25,000 Little Free Libraries.

To help celebrate World Book Night, Little Free Library Project UK has teamed up with some fantastic publishers to give away a wonderful collection of brilliant books specifically aimed at children and young people.

DK Books and Walker Books have both generously donated some brilliant titles that will be distributed across a number of our Little Free Libraries as part of a special World Book Night event.

The Alex Rider collection by Anthony Horowitz from the fantastic folks at Walker Books.

A first book of Fairy Tales, Everything you need to know about dinosaurs, Space: A Children's Encyclopedia and many more from the brilliant DK Books.

We have lots of copies to give away from a number of London Little Free Libraries including Wingfield Road, Walthamstow, Victory Park, Stratford, Victoria Park, Hackney, Brettenham Road, Walthamstow, Prah Road, Finsbury Park and Red Lion Lane, Woolwich.

A young reader lost in a book at our Wingfield Road Little Free Library in Walthamstow.

Picking up a book on the way home from school, Brettenham Road, Walthamstow.

These special books will be in Little Free Libraries after 5pm. If you would like to find out a specific address/postcode please send us a direct message on Facebook (www.facebook.com/LittleFreeLibraryProject). Please share your World Book Night stories and photos with us on Twitter too (@LFLProject). Happy reading!

www.littlefreelibraryproject.org.uk

Two more Little Free Libraries for North East London

We've built two more Little Free Libraries for wonderful Walthamstow. The largest network of Little Free Libraries in the UK will soon be comprised of 14 LFLs in total.

The first, pictured above will be stocked with page turners for people of all ages, but the second below will be filled with books just for children and young people. Both Little Free Libraries will be installed on Wingfield Road.

We have worked with a fantastic artist, Emma Scutt, who added the beautifully engaging designs to both Little Free Libraries. Both LFLs were made possible by the support of the Wingdolph community (residents of Wingfield and Randolph Roads), who will be holding an official launch on Friday 3rd October to introduce the LFLs to the local community.

Take a look at the gallery of Walthamstow Little Free Libraries here. Happy reading!

Little Free Libraries and the promotion of free public art

“Imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and the strength, use it to create.” Maria Montessori.

Books open us up to a world of imagination, but before a person chooses to pick up, open and read a book, they may need to be inspired to do so. If books are fuel for the imagination, then the places where the books reside should inspire us too. That's why all of our Little Free Libraries are decorated with vivid and engaging art.

As well as being free book sharing venues for communities, each Little Free Library is a one-of-kind piece of inspiring public art. We work with a hugely talented variety of artists, from traditional contemporary artists and book illustrators to street artists, tattoo artists and many more besides.

Below we feature some of our most recent Little Free Library creations and shine a light on the fantastic artists that helped turn each into a magical and inspiring art installation.

Gabriela Castellanos has worked with us to create two beautiful artworks. The first is installed on Garner Road in Walthamstow. Above, Gabriela adding colour to the second, Epping Forest themed Little Free Library, installed on Overton Drive in Wanstead.

Above: Oliver and Freddie celebrate after their Little Free Library is installed outside their home in Wanstead.

Above: The Urban Fox Little Free Library in Stoke Newington by Hannah Adamaszek. Hannah is well known within the street art scene for her female portraits, which have brought a painterly style often found within contemporary art. In 2013 she created a stunning urban fox mural as part of the Mural on the Marsh project in East London. She has now added her urban fox design to two of our LFLs, which have both become very popular. How could you walk past this without stopping to take a book?

Pictured above, the nature themed Little Free Library by artist Leticia Molera Vasquez (pictured right) and below at work in her tattoo studio.

Artist Emma Scutt worked with us on one of our very first Little Free Libraries, pictured below left. She has been a great supporter of our charity through her collaboration and has added her beautiful, engaging art to three Little Free Libraries.

Above right: Emma brings a night owl to life. Emma has created a wide range of stunning murals as part of her portfolio and her LFL designs now form permanent art installations for communities to enjoy. We'll be installing two Little Free Libraries on Wingfield Road in Walthamstow, London on Friday 3rd October. The first pictured above right and the second will be unveiled on Friday, which is themed especially for children and of course filled with wonderful children's books.

The Red Lion Lane Little Free Library will be roaring into life on Saturday 4 October in Woolwich, South East London. The red lion design was created by illustrator Emma Russell. This is the second Little Free Library that Emma added her unique and inspiring art to.

Above: Emma Russell adds her illustrations to the Hear, Bear Pear Little Free Library. You can listen to Emma talking about how she came up with the design on London Live.

On one of our most recent projects we have been working with a very unique artist with a craft that dates back to the 15th century. Russell Frost of Hooksmith has added a one of a kind book cover to one of our Little Free Libraries, which will be installed at the Wanstead Tap in Forest Gate, London on 18 October.

Pictured above from left: Russell next to his printing press; letters inset within the press; and the top of the Little Free Library with the printed words "Once upon a time at the Wanstead Tap".

Letterpress printing was the normal form of printing text from its invention by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century until the 19th century and remained in wide use for books and other uses until the second half of the 20th century. We'll be announcing the launch event for the Wanstead Tap Little Free Library very soon. Check our website or follow us on Facebook to stay up to date.

Kiko Honda-Powell studied architectual and interior design in Osaka, Japan. Now a resident of London she has added her interpretative artistic stylings to two of our Little Free Libraries. Pictured above bluebells, trees and sunlit leaves subtly encourage passers-by to stop in for a book.

Above: a recent coffee morning meet-up at community cafe Albert and Francis in Leyton, East London, where the Little Free Library has become a popular feature.

Johnny Rotten and Samuel Plimsoll (who were both born in the area) have a chat on one side of the Finsbury Park Little Free Library, while a child points passers-by in the right direction on the door. The wonderful illustrations were created by Islington based artist Teresa Robertson. The LFL is stewarded by a wonderful community of book lovers in the Plimsoll Road area of Finsbury Park.

We'll be posting more pictures and featuring more artists soon. In the meantime you can keep up with our progress around the country on Facebook, Twitter and on our website.

Little Free Library Project UK

Registered charity no. 1158557

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Wanstead, Leytonstone and Leyton share a common theme

We worked with three fantastic artists to create three beautiful Little Free Libraries in Wanstead, Leytonstone and Leyton. Each LFL has an Epping Forest theme (the Forest is within walking distance of each LFL) and is full of books for each community to share.

Above left: Leytonstone's Little Free Library by artist Leticia Molera Vasquez. Above right: Leyton's Little Free Library by artist Kiko Honda-Powell. Below: Wanstead's Little Free Library by Gabriela Castellanos. When she's not decorating LFLs for us Leticia runs tattoo studio Artefacto in Leytonstone with her partner Sean Vasquez. Kiko specializes in interpretative art and studied graphic and interior design in Osaka, Japan, while Gabriela takes her art influences from her Venezuelan father using a graphic approach with vivid colours.

Three little libraries with one theme, each completely different; all beautiful and engaging.

Read more about our Little Free Libraries across London and the UK in a recent article by the Independent.

Our Leyton Little Free Library at Albert and Francis Cafe

Albert and Francis is a community cafe in the heart of Leyton. The Little Free Library has been in place for several weeks and has proved to be very popular with readers of all ages. On Tuesday mornings a group of local mums meet with their toddlers for a coffee. We stopped by to ask them what they thought about the little book sharing venue. "It's great to be able to pick up a book anytime and there are some great picture books for toddlers too." said Kate, who lives locally and donates books too.

The Leyton Little Free Library was built in our magic workshop in West Sussex and decorated by artist Kiko Honda-Powell with an Epping Forest theme.

Coming soon to London SE18

We'll be installing this roaring Little Free Library on Red Lion Lane near Woolwich in early October.

To find out more about where and when we're installing our Little Free Libraries around the UK, please visit our website: www.littlefreelibraryproject.org.uk.