221-S.Ashland
Little Free Library at 221 S. Ashland
Little Free Library is an international project that enables people to share their favorite books and stories for free. For Catherine Nunn Lawless, who works for an Education non-profit, promoting literacy is not only part of her job, it’s also part of her front yard.
Somewhat resembling a birdhouse, these book exchanges are beginning to pop up all over Lexington, with Lawless’ being the most recent addition. On April 15, her home at 221 South Ashland became the latest host of a Little Free Library.
Lawless comes from a family full of teachers, and as her children started learning to read, she began to realize how important something like this was to her.
Lawless
Catherine Nunn Lawless
“My girlfriends and I started a book club, and then we decided we were going to take Little Free Library on as our community service project,” Lawless said.
These “book exchanges” work very simply—in order to take a book, you leave a book.
The Little Free Library that inspired her was the one located by the firehouse at 300 Woodland Ave., right across the street from Maxwell Elementary.
Other Little Free Library locations in Lexington include one right outside Third Street Stuff at 257 N. Limestone, and another at West Sixth brewery, near the back parking lot.
According to the Little Free Library website, there are three other registered locations in Lexington: 381 W. Loudon Ave., 1184 Colorodo Rd., and 1622 Lindy Lane. There are also similar book exchanges, located on the 300 block of Richmond Ave. and the 500 block of N. Limestone near Homegrown Press that are not yet registered with the Little Free Library organization. Worldwide there are more than 10,000 Little Free Library book exchanges in 52 countries.
Lawless’s book club is going to have a dedication to her new book exchange on April 27, from 3-4pm, and all are welcome.
“The dedication is really just a celebration of literacy,” Lawless said. “It’s also a really good way to promote the fact that it’s there and that it’s open to everybody.”
WestSixth
West Sixth Brewing
ThirdStreetStuff
Third Street Stuff
300-Woodland
300 Woodland at Maxwell