Wondering what to do with that stack of books you’ve long since read?

Try exchanging them. Or leave them for a neighbor. On the street.

Well, not on the street exactly.

Look for a Little Free Library, a “Take a Book, Return a Book Library”, in your neighborhood.

Little Free Library is a global movement that started in Wisconsin in 2009 to promote the love of reading by building free book exchanges. Often, these look like tiny schoolhouses or cabins.

The first Little Library appeared in DC in January 2013 in the NW.

By my count, DC now has 27 of these Libraries throughout the city, and many more can be found in Virginia and Maryland. See the map.

I recently took a stroll around Capitol Hill to see what the four neighborhood Libraries had to offer.

Each one that I visited was easy to find and had about 15-20 books.

My Book Exchange Log

At 909 F St NE

Take: Playing for Pizza by John Grisham

Leave: Star Wars: Spectre of the Past by Timothy Zahn (one I picked up long ago and never read)

At 121 12th St NE

Take: Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon

Leave: Jackie Brown by Elmore Leonard

At 1207 East Capital St SE

No exchange

At 1424 F St NE

Take: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Leave: Congo by Michael Crichton

I don’t promise to read them all, but I like that I can parlay my old stack of books into a new unread stack.

Get out there and find some good books!