Readers all over the world know the harsh realities for the price of books. Since 2009, The Little Free Library organization has been expanding their libraries to all 50 states and more than 90 countries worldwide. And the best part, all books are free! Their organization is built around the concept of taking a book and in return adding a new book to the library so that new readers can discover more genres and different books each time. Every year more than 42 million books are shared throughout this concept and on average at least one book is shared through the libraries everyday. Their mission is to strengthen and spread the reading community and expand book access to everyone that is not limited by time, place, and privilege. 

One of the main reasons why supporting the Little Free Libraries is so important is because of how it helps make it easily accessible to everyone no matter where they live. The Little Free Library is specifically associated with the Impact Library Program, which aims to spread the book exchanges to areas without easy access to books.Today more than 30 million adults do not know how to read or write. By setting up more Little Free Libraries around the world, it can help improve literacy for all children at a young age and make it more enjoyable for them as well. So far more than 1,500 of these libraries have been spread throughout this program and have continually been making an impact on all children in communities where books are scarce. Just by participating in the book exchanges, it can help immensely to spread the community of reading and have an impact on the literacy rates all over the world. 

Also, by making these books in the libraries specifically free, many people have benefited from buying something they love without the expense. In regular book selling stores and online shopping sites like Amazon, book prices can range from around 15 to 17 dollars.These prices can raise even more for new releases and hardcover books, making it extremely pricey for many people worldwide. By participating in exchanging books for the Little Free Library, this again helps improve access to everyone because more citizens who love to read are able to share and spread what they are reading without having to pay more money than necessary.   

The Little Free Libraries also help to prevent more waste that comes with buying many books. Every year more than 2 billion books are published in the US, that means that 40 million tons of paper are being used for books. Because of this more paper is being processed only to be wasted on a book that someone may only read one time, and more trees are being unnecessarily cut down. The libraries are helping to prevent this excess waste by exchanging books without having to buy another copy and instead finding it inside of the Little Free Libraries. When people exchange books they are able to lessen the amount of paper being processed by only reading one book and not buying more. 

Like many local bookstores, supporting Little Free Libraries are just as important to helping spread the reading community and supporting small businesses. Little Free Libraries not only prevent more waste and money, but they also make communities come closer together and overall make neighborhoods a better place. It is said that at least 92% of people say that their neighborhood seems friendlier with the Little Free Library, and 72% of people have met more people in the reading community. Overall, the Little Free Libraries are incredibly important to helping literacy, accessibility, and reading communities all over the world.