Take a book, leave a book

By Nadia Stuewer

Lowertown bookworms are enjoying the pleasures of little free libraries around the neighbourhood.  The boxes, which come in all colours, shapes and sizes, contain books left there by readers.  Passers-by may take a book or two. There is no due date and it is not even necessary to return the books.

Little libraries, book boxes, free libraries – whatever they’re called – have been gaining popularity in Canada and around the world in recent years.  Lowertown resident Sandra Pilote calls the little red library in the cul de sac of Old St. Patrick Street her “pride and joy”.  To the best of my knowledge this box is the first little free library in any Ottawa Community Housing (OCH) community, and the first in Lowertown East.

In 2018, the residents of the Beauséjour community requested a little free library from the OCH Community Capital Funding, which funds small physical improvements like picnic tables and swings for seniors to common spaces.  The library was procured and installed by an OCH community developer.  Two new little free libraries joined the Lowertown OCH community last summer, one at the corner of Beausoleil and Murray and one at 326 Murray Street.  These were a joint project between OCH and the Youth Services Bureau.

Sandra reports that while all books are popular, children’s books and French books are most quickly snapped up.  The box at Beausoleil and Murray was rich in Danielle Steele books in late January but held other books and a few CDs as well.

Lowertown’s little free libraries are part of a worldwide movement.  Little Free Library is a non-profit organization with more than 100,000 little libraries around the globe.  https://littlefreelibrary.org/  They have a map of the world that shows the locations of boxes which have been registered by their owners.  The map indicates many little free libraries in Ottawa, but none of Lowertown’s have been registered and don’t show up on the map.  So we’ve created our own map of the seven little free libraries and one free pantry in Lowertown.

Diego Garcia built his little blue crooked library at the corner of Bruyère and Rose last summer, fulfilling a dream that he had had ever since seeing one in Victoria, B.C. years ago. The library is based on the nursery rhyme about the crooked man.

There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse.
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.  

His wife, Lauren Intven, initially had some hesitations, believing that the job of curating the library might be a stressful one.  None of her worries have come true.  The box is never empty; people are constantly replenishing it, and Diego and Laura have never had to buy books to supply it.  On the other hand, all the books find a taker; they haven’t had to remove any unpopular books. All sorts of books are taken and left, from cookbooks to comics, magazines to children’s books. 

Diego and Lauren and their daughter love to sit on the balcony and watch people take books.  They love that it’s not just the neighbours.  Unhoused people will sometimes ask if they can take one.  Even city workers have taken books.

Children will soon have their own little free library. In the spring, Diego plans to expand his library by building a lower level that will house children’s books.  Kids will be able to reach the library without the help of an adult and browse the contents to their hearts’ delight.  The little library at 262 St. Andrew Street is already at kid height.  An attractive yellow box with a tall, steep roof, it was full of mostly adult books.

But why stop at books?  People have created little free libraries of all kinds.  A family in Saskatoon created a “stick library” for neighbourhood dog owners, where dogs can take a stick and leave a stick.  Peterborough has a seed library.  Others have built libraries to share plants, garden produce and tools.

Wurtemberg Street resident Rachel Buxton also hosts a little free box of a different sort.  Her little free pantry at number 84 was also built last summer.  Based on a “give what you can, take what you need philosophy,” the pantry offers food to Lowertown residents in need.

The project was inspired by her realization, after someone kept stealing bike parts, that there was clearly a lot of need in Lowertown.  Seeing people camping under the bridge near her house amplified that feeling.  At the same time, a nearby house recently sold for over a million dollars, indicating that there are a lot of people who have the capacity to give.   So Rachel decided to create something that would provide an opportunity for those who can give to share with neighbours in need.  She found an old kitchen cabinet that had been left out as garbage, and her son and a friend decorated it with spray paint.

Rachel initially wanted to locate the box in a high-traffic area but that would have required permission, so she decided to put it in her own front yard.  While many people in the neighbourhood haven’t noticed it yet, people in need have noticed, and food disappears quickly.  She fills it every few months and the items are gone within two days.  Even the half-eaten bags of chips that someone left were gone within a day.  “People shouldn’t be shy”, said Rachel, “if you don’t want it, chances are someone in the community will.” 

In addition to canned food and other non-perishable goods, there is also a need for toiletry items, and people are welcome to donate toothpaste, toilet paper, moisturizer, deodorant, etc.
There is also a global movement of mini pantries to address food insecurity at a grassroots level.  Mini pantries help feed neighbors and nourish neighborhoods.  The Orleans Community Pantry is the only one listed for Ottawa so far.

Rachel says that the little free pantry has been a fun project that is bringing people together.  She appreciates the diversity of Lowertown, calling it a wonderful neighbourhood.  The box represents the spirit of Lowertown, a melting pot of people from all walks of life.