Civic improvement

I’d not been on the W&OD trail for a while, so when I headed out last week, I found something new:

I’d heard of these little popup libraries. The idea is that you take a book you find interesting and, at some point, return it or leave a different book in its place. In fact, “little free library” is an actual thing, website and all. I’d read about them a few years ago, and came across one of them on one of my walking meetup’s walks somewhere in Sunnyvale. (I thought I’d taken a photo, but I can’t find anything now.)

It’s kind of interesting to see it here, and wonder about the location. I mean—the W&OD is used by people seriously interested in getting from one place to another. They’re either commuting (by foot or bicycle; although there’s one maroon with an electrified unicycle who whizzes through on weekday mornings), or they’re getting in their cardio. I find it odd to imagine any of them stopping to browse the book shelves in the midst of this purposeful activity. (As opposed to, say, putting it near a bus stop. But there might be municipal liability issues involved in that.)

Anyhow, I certainly get behind any effort to encourage reading actual books.