The country of Colombia was ahead of the curve on creating outdoor book havens, boasting more than 100 libraries operated in public parks throughout the country.
The program started more than a decade before Little Free Library was founded in Wisconsin in 2009, and operates on a more official plane than that organization’s homey “take a book, leave a book” charm.
Paradero Para Libros Para Parques (PPP) is run by the nonprofit literacy group Fundalectura and the public parks system to promote spontaneous reading. Each library, a bookshelf roughly the width of a park bench brimming with 350 books, loans out its wares free of charge. The bright colors beg passersby to pause and crack open a cover.
The downside? The libraries, operated by volunteers, are only open only open 12 hours per week. Still, anything that encourages literacy deserves applause.
