How to Build Your Own Little Free Library
When we started getting serious about buying our own place in December 2019, I knew wherever we ended up, I wanted to build a little free library. I’d seen dozens throughout Nashville over my decade of living here. They really charm up the front of a home and they have always seemed like a great way to offer something to the neighborhood.
I looked at a lot of other tutorials via Pinterest and wanted to do something unique: architecturally match the angles of my house. The ratio of the roofline, the colors. To do this, I went up in our attic to measure the peak of the house. Yes. Not a joke. I was careful, Jackson, I promise. Then I used that measurement to process the math for the little library I had sketched. Stay tuned for the full project list at the end if you’re hoping to build something similar.
I wanted a window on the front so that folks could see what was inside from the street. I snagged an acrylic panel from Home Depot for five bucks and planned my front panel accordingly. I measured out, marked, and cut most of my pieces before beginning the project. When I get the time to do home projects, it’s rarely a long window, so I have a tendency to take a kind of “baking” approach. If you’ve ever baked your own bread, you know that it’s a little work here, then a lot of waiting, then a little work, then more waiting. Substitute “waiting” for “working” and you’ve got time to do projects by slicing them up into tiny to-dos.
I used two square 3/4”-thick plywood for the walls of the library, cutting those down to size with a miter saw. My library is approximately 16” wide, 10” tall on the sides and 13” tall at the peak.
I attached the panels to each other with wood glue and then later caulked the seams with roofing caulk so they’d be waterproof. I let this whole situation dry overnight. Next, I painted the little library with a color that matches our front door (and several other color moments throughout our home). Again, I let this dry overnight.
I got some free roofing tiles from someone’s project leftovers from Facebook marketplace and attached those with some heavy-duty glue.
When I layered the singles together, I connected them with the waterproof roofing caulk.
Making the front panel proved to be the trickiest part for me. If you’re better with a saw, you could probably get a third piece of plywood and cut the acrylic size window directly out of that, but I am not so skilled. I went with smaller pieces and then added extra trim I had laying around from the bedroom picture frame trim project.
Materials ($61 total)
two 23/32”-thick 2x2’ plywood panels ($16 ea)
wood glue ($5)
magnetic closure ($3)
sample size paint of your choice (usually $5; ours is Noble Blush to match our doors)
roofing shingles (I found some for free and imagine this is easily done, but if you need to buy some, try to match your own roof with some of these for $34)
Tools
miter saw
level
tape measure
clamps
patience
I like to stock our little free library with a couple additional essentials that might be useful to our neighbors or those in need and walking down our street. I added bandaids and a few spicy ramen meals from Trader Joe’s because they are delicious. I try to remember once a month to add a few extra canned goods or “just add water” things to the pantry portion. Otherwise, I added some novels—a good mix of genres—and then shopped for some kids books at McKay’s to add to the stash. Even better, our neighbor across the street is an inker for DC so they contributed some amazing comic books (which went quickly, to no surprise) and other neighbors have swapped out books for their own. The whole idea is that people can freely take and freely give items to our little community here.
My little library’s first magnetic closure was unsuccessful. When I was away for a girls weekend, Jackson surprised me by inviting Andrew and Alec and the three of them knocked out some home projects, including reattaching magnetic closures and the acrylic handle that had arrived from Etsy.
The roof survived its first snow with zero leakage! Yay yay! Next on my to-do list is to order an official plaque on the Little Free Library Project website and get registered on their map. Unofficially, of course, our whole neighborhood now knows where they can get a good book!
Are you considering building your own little free library?
xo,
em
