Royal Holloway University set to launch Little Free Libraries

Royal Holloway University boasts one of the most beautiful campuses in the world. Founder's Building welcomes visitors as they enter and tree lined paths connect academic and social spaces where students from all over the world come to study.

Founder's Building, Royal Holloway University

This month (January 2017) we delivered four Little Free Libraries, which were funded by the university. Two LFLs will be installed on campus and two donated to partners within the community, including a local school.

The LFLs will be artfully decorated by students and Alumni and then filled with books to be shared across campus. With students from all over the world studying at the university, there is sure to be an international mix of titles being exchanged, shared, and read amongst the leafy surroundings of Royal Holloway.

Happy Reading!

Books and flowers: the roof garden Little Free Library

One of our recent creations! The roof garden Little Free Library. It reminds us of an Oscar Wilde quote: "With freedom, books, flowers and the moon, who could not be happy."

The Little Free Library will be hosted by author and school librarian Lucy Ivison outside her home in Acton, West London. We hope that the unique design will attract and engage readers from across the community.

Visit our website for more on our recent projects.

Little Free Libraries: supporting communities and schools to engage children with reading

All of the evidence suggests and involved professionals agree that reading is one of the most important factors in helping children reach their full potential.

In a recent report Save the Children outlined four key drivers to help ensure children are able to read well:

1. Celebrating the enjoyment of reading in communities;
2. Supporting children to develop good early language skills before starting school;
3. Providing the right support to primary schools; and
4. Supporting mothers and fathers to help their children's reading.

Little Free Libraries, as part of an overall strategy, are able to support the achievement of each of these four goals, providing an excellent tool to teachers, parents and communities to help promote a love of reading.

At Little Free Library Project UK we are working across the country with communities and schools to help engage children with reading. Clearly what our Little Free Libraries offer is just a small part of the solution. The fantastic work of public libraries, teachers, parents and third sector organisations all works in unison to help promote the love of reading to children and young people.

Our Little Free Libraries are now installed at several primary schools across the UK and the feedback from teachers, parents and children has been overwhelmingly positive.

On 26 March 2015 we installed a new Little Free Library at Heathmere Primary School in Roehampton, London. The school is located at the centre of the Alton estate. As soon as it was installed, and as the school day came to an end, children and parents stopped by to take a look and pick up a book. We asked the Deputy Head, Ben Cooper, why he thought Little Free Libraries could help at Heathmere:

"At Heathmere Primary School, we are passionate about reading.  We want to give our children every possible opportunity to pick up a book, open a page and get lost in a story. Developing a love of books and encouraging children to read for pleasure is at the heart of everything we do.  We are setting up a library in school, investing in the books children have in class and inviting authors in to school to talk to the children – anything and everything that helps children to read.

As part of this, we want to set up Little Free Libraries in the school grounds. The school is in an area of high deprivation - we know that lots of our children don't have access to many books at home.  Having a Little Free Library, where children can choose a book to keep and perhaps return one with a recommendation, will make a huge difference."

Last year we installed several Little Free Libraries at schools in London and Essex, including Frederick Bremer School, Kingston Primary and Thundersley Primary and earlier this year installed four Little Free Libraries at Bearwood Primary School in Birmingham. Next month Priory Infants School in Ramsgate and Chapel End Infants School in Walthamstow will open their new Little Free Libraries.

The Little Free Library at Frederick Bremer School has now been in place for several months. We spoke to English teacher of 23 years, Kate Kelly, to get her feedback on the school's LFL. Here is what she had to say:

"As an English teacher with a passion for improving children's literacy and fostering within them a life long love of books and all they can offer, Little Free Libraries offer an innovative and unique way of promoting reading for pleasure in schools and in our communities."

As part of the Frederick Bremer project we went in to the school to meet year 7 students and involved them directly in the artwork for their Little Free Library. "Getting the children involved in designing the Little Free Library helps give them ownership of the project and they have lots of fun too!" says Little Free Library Project UK director Nick Cheshire.

Being able to access a Little Free Library at school and then finding one outside school in the community helps to create a connection between school and home life. They encourage children and young people to take books home to read, but also help promote the joy of sharing by enabling them to put books into the LFLs too.

Over the course of the next year Little Free Library Project UK will be installing LFLs in many more schools across the country. If you are a teacher or parent and would like to find out more about getting a Little Free Library at your school please contact our director Nick Cheshire or see our website for more details.

Gallery:

Save the Children report: 'Read on, Get on.' September 2014

Little Free Libraries around the UK

As we begin to plan for 2015, we take a look back at some of the LFLs we installed around the UK over the past year.

It is our aim to have installed 100 in total by the end of 2015. Increasing access to books, promoting art and bringing communities together through their love of reading.

Little Free Libraries around London and the UK

Happy reading!

Young readers in Birmingham take delivery of their Little Free Libraries

Young readers at Bearwood Primary School in Birmingham quickly start making use of their new Little Free Libraries.

Funded by the Siobhan Dowd Trust, we have created four colourful LFLs especially for children at this wonderful primary school in Birmingham.

Bearwood Primary School is the fourth school in the UK to host a Little Free Library and the first in Birmingham. Three of the Little Free Libraries will provide books just for kids, but one will also contain books for older readers (including parents) when it is installed a local community cafe.

The Siobhan Dowd Trust have funded the project and will also be supplying a wide selection of books for these enthusiastic young students. "We are very grateful to the wonderful Siobhan Dowd Trust and pleased to have worked with them to create this new network of Little Free Libraries in Birmingham." said Nick Cheshire, Director of Little Free Library Project UK.

Happy reading!

www.littlefreelibraryproject.org.uk

Three more Little Free Libraries for London

Our latest Little Free Libraries were installed in Highams Park, London E4 on 19 December 2014. The official launch is today. Pop by and pick up a book. 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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