The Old Town Neighborhood Association’s Little Free Library is located at the corner of Wilbur and Durham. Neighborhood association chair, Dick Reamer, says that the library does more than promote literacy–it promotes community too. Current titles include: books by Clive Cussler and John Grisham as well as The Berenstein Bears Go to Camp, Adventures of Danny and the Dinosaur and To Kill a Mockingbird.

Lutie Stearns was a Wisconsin library activist in the late 1800s who was so committed to everyone’s right to a free library that she spent almost twenty years delivering books to people living in rural communities.

Writer Stuart Stotts calls her the “Johnny Appleseed” of books. The Little Free Library movement calls her their heroine.

The Little Free Library is a worldwide book sharing movement designed to build both a love of reading and community out of DIY woodworking projects that come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

Originally the goal was to build 2,510 libraries around the world to surpass the number Andrew Carnegie built. As of January of this year, the goal had been surpassed with an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 Little Free Libraries open for business in 36 countries.

Lutie Stearns would be proud to know her work is being carried on in Lake Oswego which is home to four Little Free Libraries. Here’s where you can find them in case you’re looking for a good read (or are wanting to donate a book you think someone else would enjoy).

The Oswego Playschool Library is located at 517 8th Street in Lake Oswego and was installed this past February in celebration of the playschool’s 60th anniversary. “It’s hard to keep it stocked,” admits parent volunteer Teri Patapoff. It seems that most children, as they are leaving school, stop to either get a book or check to see if the book they donated is still there. Recent titles included The Cat in the Hat, I Spy, and Little House on the Prairie.

Riven Dell’s Little Free Library is located on Riven Dell Road about halfway between Rivendell Court and Tolkien. According to one of the project organizers, Ken Oishi, the original books have been checked out, replaced by a range of self-help, novels, nonfiction, Oprah Winfrey picks and The Life of Pi. “That one was gone immediately,” Oishi explains.

The Carlson Court Little Free Library is located on Carlson Court in Lake Oswego and currently offers titles for old and young alike including, The Very Lazy Ladybug, Where the Wild Things Are, Siddhartha and The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks.