Small town, big idea: Library box helps residents share a book

The county’s newest library is a microwave-sized box mounted on a post.

The small wooden house is packed with novels, abridged classics, mysteries and nonfiction. Books by John Grisham, Thomas Edison and Jan Karon are packed into the small space, waiting for whoever wants to take them.

Surrounded by a garden just off Bargersville’s downtown streets, the library has become a favorite stopping point for local adults and children.

Bargersville is the first town in Johnson County to feature a Little Free Library, a grass-roots book-lending program sprouting in neighborhoods and small towns throughout the country.

Residents are encouraged to stop by the library stand and take a book they find interesting. If they have extra books or have borrowed one before, they’re asked to drop them back off in the library box.

“Even though Bargersville is getting bigger, I want to keep that small-town feel,” said Pamela Ridge, who started the library. “This is a perfect way to do that.”

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