One of the many things we love deeply about our hometown of Long Beach, Calif., is its vibrant Little Free Library community. More than 80 homes have registered with FreeLittleLibrary.org — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Hundreds of “unofficial” tiny libraries have popped up outside houses all over town, particularly during the pandemic, and we couldn’t be happier about it.
So, in the spirit of holiday fun, we’ve created a scavenger hunt of sorts. We’ve placed 25 of our books in 25 Little Free Libraries throughout the city, and developed a Google map to help guide your way. You can tell which books are at each location by the icon color. Just click on the map description (or scroll down) for the key.
It took intern Amaya Torres and me a couple of days to hit all of the libraries; she made a TikTok about the journey hat you can view here! We were blown away by how creative and beautiful the libraries can be. Although some of the boxes were chosen simply because of their locations (we wanted to get the books into as many different neighborhoods as possible), others were chosen because they seemed tailor-made for our titles.
The Dorothy Bembridge Library downtown.
For example, the outdoor library in front of the magnificent Dorothy Bembridge house, so full of history and tragedy, seemed a perfect place for Tim Grobaty’s book, I’m Dyin’ Here — which contains a fair bit of history and tragedy itself, alongside Grobaty’s signature humor. (If you want to know more about the Bembridge place, read the column that Grobaty wrote about the allegedly haunted residence for the Long Beach Post in October.)
A copy of Burdens by Water by Alan Rifkin isn’t far from the Colorado lagoon — whose upcoming renovation will soon prove an enormous burden to nearby residents. (Haha, but also seriously. It’s going to mangle traffic for years.)
The Inheritance of Shame by Peter Gajdics was placed at the “Knowledge is Power” Library on Florida Street. Located two short blocks from The Center Long Beach in one of the most vibrant LGBTQ+ communities in Southern California, we felt this library paired perfectly with Gajdics’ powerful argument against the use of gay conversion therapy.
And as for HIdden by Cristina Salvador Klenz, well, we’ve hidden that one on Naples Island. Go and find it — and enjoy the area’s famous holiday light displays while you’re there.:-)
Our ultimate hope is that more Long Beach folks will discover our books, enjoy them, and then return them to other free libraries — to help give the books a journey we can track through social media. If you are reading this, please help us spread the word!
And if you find one of the books, be sure to share your finds on Instagram Stories (or Facebook or Twitter or TikTok or wherever the hell you are hanging out these days) and to follow us for updates about where the books have been spotted! (If you’re not on social media, feel free to email us a photo instead to info@brownpaperpress.com.)
The Joyce Levinson Library in Naples.
And now… let the games begin! And Happy Holidays, Long Beach!
We love you something fierce.
P.S. We’ve already heard back from someone! Joyce Levinson, the owner of the little library in Naples that we mentioned, was kind enough to reach out on Facebook with the picture shown at right. Levinson said she is excited to pass along Hidden. Now in her 70s, Levinson explained that she used to play librarian as a child. Becoming a steward to a Little Free Library, she said, is "a dream come true. I am very excited to share my love of books with our neighborhood."
Map Key:
Yellow = ParentShift by Ty and Linda Hatfield and Wendy Thomas Russell
Purple = The Inheritance of Shame by Peter Gajdics
Maroon = I'm Dyin' Here by Tim Grobaty
Dark Blue = Crybaby by Cheryl E. Klein
Black = Hidden by Cristina Salvador Klenz
Green = Trove by Sandra A. Miller
Turquois = Burdens by Water by Alan Rifkin
Orange = Relax, It's Just God by Wendy Thomas Russell
Pink = How to Be a Feminist by Maxine Russell