Mansfield Little Free Library #19235 Really Is There If You Look Around

Text by David Boger

It’s always fun to see what new things you can discover while visiting towns in your own area. We always check the Internet to see what people recommend seeing.

When preparing for a visit to Mansfield on June 12, 2018, we noticed that there was a Little Free Library listed. (There are actually two, but we didn’t get to the second one.) Only coordinates were posted for the location instead of an address like on many. So we looked them up and noticed that they seemed to lead to a private lake. Since we hadn’t been to this part of Mansfield before we decided it needed a visit to see if we could find where this library was actually located.

When we got there we found that the spot where the coordinates took us really wasn’t accessible, so we figured that wasn’t the actual location. The street we were on seemed to go around this little lake so we decided to see if it might be somewhere on this street. Then we found it. The actual coordinates are on Cains Lane at about 32.59741 -97.14016 — although the Library doesn’t show on Google Maps.

It was a very nice Little Free Library, but it was showing it’s age a bit. We couldn’t really tell if it was used much or not but at least there were some books in it if anyone was looking for something to read.

The great thing about Little Free Libraries is that the books are totally free and there’s no due date. You’re just asked to bring a book to leave if you take a book. The organization behind these streetside cabinets is a wonderful group that seeks to inspire people to read and to build community in local neighborhoods by providing access to books 24/7.

If you’re interested in either finding a Little Free Library in your area or maybe even creating one, you can find all the information you need on their website. They partner with many organizations and companies like Disney and Random House to provide greatly discounted books to owners of the libraries as well as themed Little Free Library boxes.

This is just another wonderful surprise we found when out traveling around the area.

(This post is from a shared blogging project that has been discontinued — but it lives on here in my Front Yard.)