Arts & Entertainment Community

Two In Tow & On The Go | A Little Free Library adventure

Posted on November 22nd, 2024 By: Tonya Strickland

Wyatt, me and Clara standing next to the Little Free Library we donated to California’s Paso Robles Children’s Museum in 2019. We received the box in exchange for writing about it on my blog.

The year was 2019. My family—Bowen, Clara, Wyatt, and I—were still living in California. Wyatt was an energetic 3-year-old (in dire need of a haircut but someone was still clinging to his last few baby ringlets), while Clara was a daring 5-year-old in striped leggings and her signature blonde bob, just starting transitional kindergarten. It was a year of milestones for all of us, but it also marked a turning point in my writing journey.

Little Free Library at Novak Street and Harborview Drive in Gig Harbor.

It was five years ago, as a mommy blogger, when I started landing brand deals with national retailers. One of those collabs was a special project (which I blogged about here) that brought a Little Free Library to the Paso Robles Children’s Museum in San Luis Obispo County where we lived. (And it remains there today. Charter #84178 at 623 13th St. — represent 🙌! )

Now, in 2024, the nonprofit Little Free Library movement is still going strong — including here on the Gig Harbor Peninsula. Whether you’re discovering new book spots locally or teaching your kids about sharing, today’s local kid adventure will give you all the deets on how to use these “little libraries” — and where to find them. With the help of the Little Free Library Global Map — available via the free mobile app or the organization’s desktop website — we’ve found that finding and enjoying these charming little cabinets is a treat and a treasure hunt.

How Little Free Libraries work:

The concept is simple: “Take a book, share a book.” Accessible 24/7, these book exchange stations are most commonly designed as a wooden box on a post with a little cabinet door on the front. But the options are endless – and folks have been known to get creative by building their free-libraries into wooden stumps, repurposed old furniture, doll houses, modern mini houses, a mini A-Frame cabin, truck shapes, boat shapes, phone booths – you name it. In fact, here’s a look at the Little Free Library’s official Instagram Page where many fun styles are showcased worldwide:

Instagram: @littlefreelibrary

User steps:

1. Bring a new or used book to the Library box of your choice (I have a few kids ones mapped out below). The books are free and the box is outside and should be accessible 24/7.
2. Leave your book in the box.
3. Take a book someone else left behind (+ you don’t need to bring it back!)
4. Repeat as often as you like.

Instagram: @littlefreelibrary

Finding the boxes

Using the Little Free Library World Map, users can visit LittleFreeLibrary.org/map or use the group’s official app to locate nearby library boxes, track their visits and save their fave locations. In 2019, there were over 36,000 libraries posted in 70 countries. Today, that number is even higher, with people of all ages discovering the joy of these neighborhood book boxes. When I type in my Artondale zip code “98335” into the Little Free Library Global Map from my laptop, I see about 20 or so outside book-sharing boxes on the Gig Harbor Peninsula alone:

Little Free Library World Map from its website.

NOTE: Not all sharing library stands are official, registered “Little Free Library” boxes so those won’t be on the Little Free Library branded map. In fact, since registering with the organization costs money, many of the sharing libraries you’ve seen along the roadside are likely independent additions from everyday people. And, those folks can share anything from books to canned food to flower pots.

In 2019, the manufacturer we partnered with called its cabinet a “sharing library.” The cabinet didn’t become an official “Little Free Library” until we registered it with the global organization and paid a fee. Even though it cost money, I liked that registering the box made its location discoverable on a map. We also got a cute little “Little Free Library” sign with our blog name on it, and the box’s charter number, to place on the cabinet door. The kids participated in the whole process and they were the perfect ages for learning about the ins and outs of sharing. They even joined me in selecting books from our shelves at home to kickstart the library’s collection. I still remember their excitement as they discovered new stories in return. I wrote about it at the time, saying:

“When we talk about parenting goals, as a mom I’m usually focused on things like surviving the wrath of my hungry 5-year-old and keeping pants on her 3-year-old brother. But, you know, I also want to teach the kids to be kind, to share, and to generally be good humans. I can say firsthand that it’s often hard to find meaningful ways to do that.” And that’s why the sharing library served (and still does) as a great lesson — it’s interactive and tangible with immediate results.

Gig Harbor locations we’ve visited

After locating a sharing library we want to visit, we typically park on the street somewhere alongside the box (if it feels safe) in order to access it. I like the locations that offer library stands in residential neighborhoods because my kids, naturally, want to get out of the car with me to browse what’s usually one or two little shelves of books behind a cabinet door. I recommend telling your kiddos not to get out of the car if the box is along a busy road, as some of them are, or not stopping at those until you’re sans-kids if you think they’ll put up a fuss about not getting out of the car with you.

Rosedale, Charter #66172

Charter #66172 at 8117 92nd St NW in Rosedale had a mix of kids books and grownup genres when we visited it in July 2024.

Raft Island, Charter #27043

Raft Island is a residential area connected to Rosedale by a concrete bridge. It’s home to approximately 200 homes on 160 acres. The address for Charter #27043 is unlisted – but this location had quite a few kid books when we visited in July 2024. The outside of the wooden cabinet also had the cuuutest little eyeglass emblems on it:

Gig Harbor Waterfront, Charter #57823

This location is on the Gig Harbor Waterfront at the corner of Novak Street and Harborview Drive, listed as Charter #57823. The box had a mix of kid books and grownup genres when we visited in November 2024.

Gig Harbor, Charter # 159544

Harbor History Museum location |
Source: LittleFreeLibrary.org/map/ popup bubble. Its map listing includes the following note from the museum: “Our Little Free Library is a model of our Midway Schoolhouse, handmade by a museum volunteer. Our one-room schoolhouse was built in 1893, midway between Gia Harbor and Point Fosdick.”

Organizing our donation pile in the car:

Our books to leave and books to take, stored in our trunk in July 2024.

In conclusion

Now, five years later, as I reflect on those early blogging days, I feel grateful for projects like this one that reminded me why I started sharing our journey in the first place. It wasn’t about the “swipe-ups” or brand deals — it was about fostering connection and leaving a small, positive mark on the world.

See ya out there!

Here’s what two of the above locations look like on the outside:

Mom and two kids standing with water and boats in the background.

@two.n.tow

Tonya Strickland is a Gig Harbor mom-of-two and longtime journalist. Now in the travel and family niche, her blog, Two in Tow & On the Go, was named among the 10 Seattle-Area Instagram Accounts to Follow by ParentMap magazine. Tonya and her husband Bowen moved to Gig Harbor from California with their two kids, Clara (10) and Wyatt (8) in 2021. Find them on Facebook for all the kid-friendly places in and around town.