Scotland's Free Libraries

The very first library was created by Todd Bol in 2009, who crafted the box in the shape of a one room schoolhouse to memorialise his mother, a former school teacher and avid reader. Although Todd has since passed away, his library lives on, and the movement has continued to thrive with thousands of individual libraries located around the globe. It’s a grassroots movement that celebrates a love of books and makes them accessible to their local communities. The libraries themselves come in all shapes and sizes; from a few dedicated shelves in a community centre, to purpose made boxes placed in hedges and on fences. Each library is completely unique, from the design and decor of the library itself, to the books within.

Starting with Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh is a hub for Little Free Libraries, and you’ll find more than 20 spread throughout the community. In Stockbridge you’ll find a rustic wooden library in Teviotdale Place, and a quirky, colourful little library shaped like a house in Comely Bank Road. The Dalry Colonies near Haymarket is home to a wooden library box tucked into a hedge, and Dickens on Dundas Street have their own little red library just outside their office.

In the north of the city you’ll find the iconic Tardis library, which opened in Starbank Park in 2018, and down towards Leith there’s an old police box with a little library tucked beside it. Just a short walk away you’ll stumble upon a library sprouting out of a large plant pot in Chandler Crescent, and further down the coastline Portobello boasts two of its own Little Free Libraries. You can find a map containing all of these libraries and more on the Edinburgh Tool Library website, which also offers a fantastic Sponsor a Library service. For a fee the organisation will provide your own little library, paint it in a colour of your choice and add a logo or plaque to it too - no carpentry skills required!

Neighbouring Fife also contains a handful of Little Free Libraries, starting with the wonderful Little Book House, which is located on Mackinnon Place in Dunfermline. Painted in bright blue and with a slate roof, it’s run by the Fife Book Fairies. One of the library stewards, Kirsteen Young, explained that “the Little Book House is a Covid project made from recycled materials. We wanted to encourage reading and sharing books with our local community, and find people are very generous and leave more books than they take. This has helped us to stock other Little Libraries in the Dunfermline area such as the Little Free Library outside Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum.

My favourite thing about running the Little Book House is the people I meet. Whether outside the library or via social media, connecting with people over a mutual love of reading is fantastic.” 

Other neighbouring libraries include The Itty Bitty Book Shack, which was recently set up in Burntisland on Russell Grove, as well as Kirkcaldy’s Black House Library which lives on Turnberry Drive. Down towards Glasgow, in the town of Lenzie, you’ll come across the Little Library in the Hedge - a pretty white box with a red roof and adorned with fairy lights.

The Little Free Library movement hasn’t just spread, it’s evolved into something new. Climate Action in Strathaven, South Lanarkshire run a variation on the traditional Little Free Library. 

Their organisation has sustainability at its heart, with a community fridge and library provided for the local community. “We began offering our Little Free Library with an amazing team of volunteers, operating on a book swap basis. The idea behind this was to encourage the sharing of books and to help reduce the number of books that are bought new, read once, and cast aside.

Our Little Free Library is slightly different as we’ve moved to a mobile bookcase and now run it on a ‘take what you like’ basis. We feel very strongly about the fact that books should be for everyone, regardless of financial situation. Our library supports reading in an accessible and sustainable way which wholeheartedly fits with what we aim to do!”

A similar endeavour is run from Aberfoyle Memorial Village Hall, which houses a community fridge, larder and library run by Mo Crawford. “Our wee library is based in meeting room at Aberfoyle Memorial Hall and is free for all to use, operating on the borrow a book, return a book principle. We usually have around 300 books covering many genres, as well as a comprehensive selection of children’s books. 

The library is available to all whenever the main hall is in use by community groups and also runs in conjunction with the hall’s Kettle’s On sessions, where members of the community can come to the hall and enjoy a cuppa and a chat.” 

To find your local Little Free Library, take a look at the movement’s official website where they have a map plotting all of the registered libraries around the world. New additions are always welcomed, and who knows, perhaps you’ll be Scotland’s newest Little Free Library Steward.

Links:Little Free Library website with map:littlefreelibrary.orgEdinburgh Tool Library with map:edinburghtoollibrary.org.uk/little-free-libraries

words // Julia Mitchell - photography // Kieran Dunning