A year ago, we installed a small community library in our front yard, thanks to the help of Dr. Greg Gulbransen, a family friend. We hoped a few neighbors might stop by now and then, but it’s become much bigger than we had imagined.
Kids ride their bikes over and flip through the shelves. Parents pause on evening walks, especially as the weather warms up. Older neighbors browse, sometimes leaving a book behind for someone else. Recently, one lady added a bunch of books and neatly organized them.
It’s a tiny library, doing what libraries have always done: bring people together.
At different times of day, all kinds of people appear: a teenager looking for something new, a grandmother reading a page before heading home, a parent helping a child choose their first chapter book. The other day, a new mother found a children’s book and began reading to her baby, right in front of our house.
Think of your bookcase as a wine cellar. You collect books to be read at the right time, the right place, and the right mood.
What started as a simple box for books has become a small moment of community for our Forest Hills neighborhood (within Queens, New York). People stop, browse, and talk, and for a minute or two, the street feels a little more connected.
As AI and cell phones dominate our lives, I just absolutely love seeing an old-school, free library work its magic.
Looking ahead, we’re thinking about other small ways to build on that spirit, maybe a neighborhood lemonade stand run by the kids to raise money for a noble cause, or a Saturday morning coffee and book swap…or a casual wine evening for neighbors to chat and get to know one another. Nothing formal, really, only small moments that invite people to pause and connect.
We need one another.
With love,
Matthew
