BOZEMAN — The Free Little Library is a non-profit organization that builds small book enclosures around town, providing people with free literature. Last year, Bozeman's little library builders suffered a main water break that caused a flood in the home workshop of founder Ezmay Newman. She says it put a damper on the organization's operations.
"It flooded our entire yard all the way through, and we were unable to use our workshop anymore for our projects due to safety issues," Ezmay says.
Although the water main is fixed, Ezmay has launched a GoFundMe to raise funds for rebuilding a working space—Ezmay builds each library right in her own backyard.
"Anything we put into this project is just whatever extra we might have. We decided that, hopefully, our community can either help monetarily or with materials so that we can rebuild our workshops ourselves," Ezmay says.
After the flooding, Ezmay wanted to create a mobile version of the operation. She completely DIY-ed a trailer and included custom book-themed stained glass as windows.
"It is our way to be mobile with our book distribution. I decided that the best way to get out to people who can't get out to a little library that might live in a library desert, we will come to you. So, I started this project a few months back, and we just took it out on its maiden voyage yesterday, which was a great success," Ezmay says.
Currently she is building a castle-themed library for the local Renaissance Fair in August. Each mini-library enclosure is a piece of art sporting details unique to each location. In the meantime, she has about 30 projects on her waitlist.
For more information, visit the Free Little Libraries GoFundMe page.
