Awesome Sauce for Chicagoans

The Midwest chapter of The Awesome Foundation has elected to give $1000 to a nonprofit called Little Free Library. As this WBEZ article explains, Chicago’s Awesome Foundation is a group of ten individuals who seek to better the city by collectively donate money to a single chosen organization.

Right now, they are supporting Little Free Library, a choice I fully endorse. The Wisconsin-based LFL funds an effort to create clusters of micro libraries all over the world. These “libraries” are actually rather small shelves (they look like custom dollhouses or bird cages). But they each contain an unlimited amount of information, for whenever a patron takes a book, they must leave one. That’s it. No registering for a library card, and no payment of any kind. What the libraries may lack in depth they make up for in convenience. Better yet, they have the potential to bring communities together to support literacy, no small thing in areas that lack functioning public libraries.

So far, Chicago locations include:

Langley Ave. Church of God

6159 South Langley Ave.

Lincoln Memorial Congregational United Church of Christ

6454 South Champlain Ave.

The Young Women’s Leadership Charter School

2641 South Calumet Ave.

Angelic Organics Urban Learning Center

6400 South Kimbark Ave.

Ian’s Pizza

3463 North Clark St.