As the director of library services for the City of Menlo Park, I created an innovative program to encourage residents to install and maintain “little free libraries” in front of their homes. The program installed 40+ little libraries in every neighborhood across the city, improving children’s access to books. The little libraries later proved to be invaluable resources during the pandemic stay-at-home orders.
The Menlo Park Little Free Library Incentive Program was designed to encourage Menlo Park residents to install and maintain Little Free Libraries on their properties by providing financial incentives (mini-grants) that covered 100 percent of the upfront purchase and installation costs at no charge to the property owner. In exchange, participating property owners were required to sign a written pledge to keep the Little Free Library on their property, curate its book collection and keep the Little Free Library in good condition.
At my request, Friends of Menlo Park Library and Menlo Park Library Foundation generously donated 100% of the funds for the mini-grants. I coordinated with the city planning department to check permit requirements, and confirmed that the library boxes were classified as garden decorations for which no permit is needed. The city’s Public Works department graciously contributed time and effort to install the library boxes to ensure proper placement and installation. I assigned a high-performing library assistant who expressed interest in a “stretch” assignment (who later earned their MLIS and was promoted to librarian) to serve as the main point of contact with residents for arranging their installations.
Curriculum Vitae
Here’s a partial list of executive reports, presentations, and other work products I developed for the Little Free Library Incentive Program.
- Little free library pilot incentive program update. Menlo Park City Council, May 14, 2019.
Staff report
- Little Free Libraries Pilot Incentive Program – Application Eligibility and Selection Criteria. Menlo Park Library Commission, December 17, 2018.
Staff report
This section is under construction. Check back for updates soon. For more information about this project, contact me. Thank you!
Sean S. Reinhart 