Screenshot of Little Free Library App

I think I’ve invented a new and unadventurous fitness routine: walking between Little Free Libraries. Whether I’m walking the dog here in Los Angeles, looking after a relative in San Francisco, or pet sitting in Pomona I like to punctuate my urban dérives with visits to these little cast-off book sites.

To navigate, I have a Little Free Library mobile app on my phone. With the app you can check in and note if you left or took a book. There’s also a web based version. The app and map have only the Little Free Libraries that someone has decided to list, so you can, of course, find many more unofficial libraries out in the wild.

I seldom take a book and usually regret when I do. You can often guess why a book no longer “sparked joy” in the owner’s life and ended up in a Little Free Library. Case in point: Aziz Ansari’s book of dating advice. But I have, occasionally, found some really interesting books such as a catalog of the works of the artist Gordon Matta-Clark and a guide to Los Angeles’ dive bars.

I also had an odd coincidence recently with a book I found in a Little Library on a walk up Geary Boulevard, San Francisco’s most boring street. Back in the 90s, when I was in music grad school, I took up fooling around with circuit boards. I often leafed through a copy I had of a strange book, 21st-century Electronic Projects for a New Age that, at some point, I Marie Kondoed back to the universe. The book contains plans for ESP testers, UFO detectors, biorhythm devices and Kirlian photography machines. I’ve long regretted getting rid of this book even though it’s unlikely I’ll ever build any of these ridiculous gadgets.

After looking through it again I realized why I got rid of it. For now I’m holding on to it, but I may go through another cycle of purging, regretting purging and circulating between Little Libraries in hope of finding it again. At least I’ll get some exercise.