Food & Drink
Mini Free Libraries Around Seattle
With neighborhoods spilling over with books, Seattle aims to raise its literary profile
By Seattle Mag March 11, 2014
This article originally appeared in the March 2014 issue of Seattle magazine.
!–paging_filter–pMarch may be National Reading Month, but in hyper-literary Seattle that’s the case every month. We boast outstanding bookstores img src=”/sites/default/files/newfiles/0314_library_2.jpg” style=”float: left; margin: 10px;” height=”266″ width=”400″(Elliott Bay), niche shops for poetry (Open Books), math/science (Ada’s Books) and mysteries (Mystery Bookshop), several publishers, packed reading series and one of the largest and busiest library systems in the country. And still, this city of ravenous bookworms isn’t sated! Over the last couple years, little free libraries have been popping up on side streets in increasing numbers, thanks to neighbors eager to share their favorite tomes (often leaving notes explaining why books are “must-reads”). Novelist Ryan Boudinot, one of the sea of prominent local writers, is working to make our predilection for reading official—as a UNESCO City of Literature, joining seven cities worldwide, including Dublin, Melbourne and Reykjavic. Having gathered support and application assistance from Seattle literary organizations, and a City Council resolution in favor of the effort, this month Boudinot submits the official bid. In November, we hope to receive the global stamp of approval on what locals already know to be true. a href=”http://www.seattlecityofliterature.wordpress.com” target=”_blank”seattlecityofliterature.wordpress.com /aem(Photo: Little library in Wallingford)/embrbrimg src=”/sites/default/files/newfiles/0314_library3.jpg” style=”vertical-align: middle; margin: 10px;” height=”266″ width=”400″/p
pWest Seattle/p
pimg src=”/sites/default/files/newfiles/0314_library7.jpg” style=”vertical-align: middle; margin: 10px;” height=”266″ width=”400″/p
pGreenwood/p
pimg src=”/sites/default/files/newfiles/0314_library8.jpg” style=”vertical-align: middle; margin: 10px;” height=”266″ width=”400″/p
pMadrona/p
pimg src=”/sites/default/files/newfiles/0314_library9.jpg” style=”vertical-align: middle; margin: 10px;” height=”600″ width=”400″/p
pMagnolia/p
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