TEMPE

Tempe becomes 2nd U.S. city offering rebates for residents to build their own 'little free libraries'

Chris Coppola
The Republic | azcentral.com
Natalie Bustamante (right) returns a book to a little free library owned by Elizabeth Aguilar-Barnett in a Tempe neighborhood.

Jaxinta Shaffer's north Tempe home has become an attraction of sorts, the kind of place where people stop as they walk by and gets neighbor to chat with neighbor.

It's a decidedly low-tech attraction, though, featuring something that has been around for centuries: books.

Shaffer is part of a growing national trend where homeowners build "little free libraries'' — free-standing boxes stocked with used books that neighbors can borrow or even keep, while also donating their own books.

"I've been able to meet a lot of my neighbors. They walk by and say, "Oh, you're the one with the little library,'" said Shaffer, who has lived in the neighborhood near 68th Street and McKellips Road for four years. "It give me a sense of community.''

That sense of community is one reason why Tempe adopted an ordinance that makes available rebates up to $300 to residents who want to install a little free library on their property. Tempe is only the second city in the United States to offer such a program, according to a national group that tracks little free libraries.

The council action, approved earlier this month, also makes the book boxes legal. Previously, they were not allowed under city zoning rules, but officials never enforced the code.

Little Free Library, a national movement that maintains information online at littlefreelibrary.org, lists eight little free libraries in Tempe registered with the group. "Stewards'' who build them receive a charter and plaque with the words "Take a book, return a book" to affix to the box.

Margret Aldrich,  a spokeswoman for Little Free Library, a Wisconsin-based group that promotes and tracks libraries around the world, said other than Tempe, only West Hollywood, California, offers residents money to encourage the libraries.

“It is very rare. We’re really thrilled do hear what Tempe is doing,'' Aldrich said, adding that about 200 Arizona little free libraries are registered on the group's web site, littlefreelibrary.org.

The city ordinance sets rules for the boxes' size, and defers to local homeowners associations to allow them if a resident lives in an HOA. The boxes can't block the sidewalk and must be maintained.

Literacy, recycling, community

The council action seeks to encourage more of the libraries, said Councilman Kolby Granville, who helped push for the new policy. Residents who build or purchase a little library can submit an application and receipts to the city for a reimbursement.

The city set aside $10,000 in its budget for the program, which could fund at least 30 to 40 boxes, according to a city report. No permit or license is required to build a box, but they have to adhere to size limits.

“It really is the perfect grouping of things that cities tend to care about. It’s literacy, it's recycling and it’s building community,'' Granville said. "You’re likely to bump into and talk to neighbors if you have books available on your front lawn."

That's what happened to Elizabeth Aguilar-Barnett on a recent afternoon, as she was showing her library in Tempe to a reporter. As she spoke, a neighbor, Natalie Bustamante, returned a book.

"We have books throughout our entire house, so this is sharing our love of reading,'' said Aguilar-Barnett. She got the idea after noticing one while on a bike ride with her husband in a nearby neighborhood.

"I've had no neighbors complain about it. A lot of them are happy about it,'' she said of the library her husband built last October. Her home is near Connolly Middle School, and students often borrow and return books as they meet their parents who are parked on her street for afternoon pickups.

The Little Free Library site shows the trend has been catching on in other Valley cities, with seven in Mesa and five in Chandler.

Phoenix has more than 30 listed. Phoenix's zoning ordinance doesn't prohibit the little libraries, as long as they are within size limits, said Michelle Thompson, a city spokeswoman. The city has no program to encourage the boxes, such as a rebate, she said.

The city of Phoenix Zoning Ordinance doesn’t prohibit a single-family homeowner from placing a “mini-library” in their yard. As long as the shelving doesn’t exceed 3 feet in height in visibility triangles and 40 inches in height in the front setback.

One of those Phoenix sites garnered attention earlier this summer, when an Ahwatukee Foothills girl's library was stolen. It eventually was located, returned and reopened Aug. 20, according to a Facebook page dedicated to the library.

Chandler has no rules for the libraries but encourages anything that will promote literacy, said Brenda Brown, Chandler's cultural affairs director. The city only asks that the boxes are placed in areas where they can be monitored to prevent damage, or even on property overseen by non-profits, she said.

Maintaining a library

Shaffer has had her little free library for two years. It was replaced once after a storm damaged it. Made of primarily recycled materials, it is decorated with bottle caps and large cans that once held baby formula for her 2-year-old twins. It cost about $75, she said.

It also serves as a memorial for her son, Marcelo, who died in infancy more than 10 years ago, she said.

"It lets people know we're welcoming,'' she said. "But you have to be open to neighbors hanging around your property.''

Granville said he hopes to see at least 40 more of the little free libraries pop up in the next year, and to have that many added each year "for the next couple of years.''

“I would like if, when anyone in the city went out to walk your dog, there were enough in the city where you'd walk by one,'' he said.