Reviewed by annieb123 on
Little Free Libraries & Tiny Sheds is a concise design and tutorial guide to building your own tiny structure for a book, tool, seed, or other exchange. Released 9th April 2019 by Quarto on their Cool Springs imprint, it's 176 pages and available in ebook and paperback formats.
This edition is heavily slanted toward Little Free Libraries, with an introduction by the LFL founder, Todd Bol (who sadly passed away in Oct 2018, prior to the publication). It is well illustrated throughout, with many photographs of variations of microstructures, as well as addons to make them more accessible or increase functionality, such as guest books, request lists, lighting, areas for community info and much more.
There is a wealth of information about repurposing existing structures or modifying and building your own. The tutorial build guides include full materials and hardware lists as well as a step by step guide to building, installing, and weatherproofing the structures. The introductory building chapter covers some tools and safety information as well as a bit on sheet metal use (for weatherproofing).
There's a really nice gallery chapter showing some variations on the basic little library theme as well as a basic micro-shed build tutorial for holding garden tools or other outdoor items.
None of the builds looked to be beyond the capabilities of a keen amateur with access to a few easily sourced tools. There's a metric/English conversion list and a short index at the end of the book.
Five stars. Really wonderful and worthwhile project to increase literacy and connectivity in the local community.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- Finished reading
- 19 April, 2019: Reviewed