Book Count

Here's the current book count:

Kid's books:  We have 8 books, need about 100 to fill the bottom shelf.

Adult books:  We have 60 books, enough for two shelves & need about 30 more for the third shelf.

So clearly we need more kids books.  I've noticed lately there are several families with young kids who frequent the neighborhood on walks up Storey.  We'll also need some books in reserve as folks start to borrow books.

Thanks everybody!

Almost Ready

  Construction on the box and preparation on the site are approaching completion.  There are still a few tasks to attend, but our neighborhood free library box is nearly complete.  Yesterday the ground was soft enough after some soaking to allow digging the post holes and building the box supports.

A sturdy platform for the box

Donated Roof shingles

 We need some more loads of gravel and I'll need some help filling out the book selection but we're well on our way.  If you're interested in helping just give me a call or drop by.  Right now I've collected about 40 books which I estimate to be enough books for about one shelf.  We have four shelves and are thinking the bottom shelf will be primarily kids books.  We definitely need more kids books if you have any sitting around.

My thinking is we can get the box installed and then have a get together for decorating and filling.  We're usually around on Labor Day weekend so that weekend would work for us, or we could choose an evening during the week.  Anyone have suggestions for a time?  Fun Stuff...

Nice Red door!

And of course a few more garage sale books

Ground Prep

We've started to level out a site and dig holes for the mounting posts.  Today neighbors Cris Jacobson & Cindy Breaux were out having a look at the site and lending a hand.  The ground is quite dry but with some water from Cris' house we'll soak, dig, soak, dig until we've dug deep enough.

One fun aspect of this project is what you learn about your neighbors.  Who knew that right across the street from me was another Slaid Cleaves fan.  What are the odds of that?  The next time he's in town we'll have to get a group together. If you don't know Slaid check out this Music Fog video

So just a few more tasks:

Getting Close

Here's a sequence of the box painting.  From here it's just paint & hang the door and then we'll be ready to mount the box.

Primer

Interior

Exterior

Roof & Shelves added

Permits & Paint

  This project is getting to that solid feel where you realize it's happening.  Yesterday our local utility EWEB granted us an official permit.  We now have the right to "enter" the field across the street and appropriate some of EWEB's gravel.  We'll use the gravel to flatten out a space alongside Whitten drive for our box.  I've been impressed with the degree of cooperation we've gotten from Tim O'Dell of EWEB and Michele Wilcox from the City of Eugene.  Now that we're official it's time to round up a crew to prepare the site.

  Along with some ground preparation I've been thinking about paint colors.  I consulted my wife Linda whose innate sense of color is vastly superior to my own. After a bit of rummaging through the garage we came up with some ideas.  We're thinking a Chinese lacquer like red door with some other contrasting colors for the interior (keeping the shelves black) and a light green exterior.  Looks like most of this we have and will need to just pick up a quart of paint for the door.

Painting Party this weekend?

Books, Shelves & Building Ideas

Yesterday Linda and I hit some garage sales throughout town and scored with a set of books for the library.  These are either books that I've read and thought were worth sharing, or authors who are worth sharing regardless of whether I've read them.  A couple kids books to start populating the lower shelf for the kiddos:  High literature meets juvenile antics, what more could a neighborhood ask for?

  Neighbors have been dropping by with supplies and we've scavenged through a few basements and yards for various materials.  The black staves below came from an old futon gathering dust in Robbin's yard, and Cindy brought by a perfect 10' 4" x 6" post which we can cut in half and use for our base.  The staves needed to be cleaned up a bit and then chop sawed for the shelves, while the two right and left uprights provide a base for the door and edge for the box.  This contraption is starting to take shape.

  On the way to the Orange Box I stopped by the Acorn Park Little Free Library in West Eugene.  I met the homeowner Alpha who runs the box and quizzed her about what works and doesn't with their box.  I also took photos of these two ideas, first a simple latch with a lock nut, a couple bolts and a notched piece of wood.  And secondly using a QR code on a rubber stamp to identify your books.  Alpha mentioned that they only stamp hardcover books, but one thought I had was using a stamp & having people report where the books end up.  We could have a map showing where our Whitty Storey books have traveled.

  That's enough for one weekend.  I'll have some evenings this week to apply a primer coat and then it will be time to gather up the troops and set the posts across the street.

Build II

It turns out that Dr. Kelly our local naturapath and dancing friend has a table saw.  After descending into the circuitous caverns of Stephen & Kelly's basement I uncovered the perfect tool to trim up the beveled edges of the salvaged windows.

Presto!  Now figure out the cutting guide to keep the box to one sheet of plywood and a trip to the big orange box for supplies.  The cutting guide is a freebie online that helps maximize your use of the wood and does all the complicated math for ya.  Here's a link:  CutList 3.43

Rather than man-handle the 4 x 8 sheet of plywood across the table saw I had the Orange guys use their fancy panel saw to cut my pieces down.  Then back home and the basic box & door take shape.  The overhang on the roof isn't really sufficient for our winter rains, so I'll add another layer of plywood over this base to increase the front overlap to keep out the rain.  I can also add a decorative arch so the roof extends out a bit over the apex.

Looks like the weekend is sanding the window down, finding some hinges, paint a primer coat, hang the door and build some shelves.  Now who has some old door hinges sitting around?  Right now the whole project's cost has been time and ~$40.