The Crackdown on Little Free Library Book Exchanges. Three years ago, The Los Angeles Times published a feel- good story on the Little Free Library movement. The idea is simple: A book lover puts a box or shelf or crate of books in their front yard. Neighbors browse, take one, and return later with a replacement. A 7. 6- year- old in Sherman Oaks, California, felt that his little library, roughly the size of a dollhouse, . The man knew he was onto something ! Many are displayed on this online map. In Venice, where I live, I know of at least three Little Free Libraries, and have witnessed chance encounters where folks in the neighborhood chat about a book. I wish that I was writing merely to extol this trend. Alas, a subset of Americans are determined to regulate every last aspect of community life. Due to selection bias, they are overrepresented among local politicians and bureaucrats. And so they have power, despite their small- mindedness, inflexibility, and lack of common sense so extreme that they've taken to cracking down on Little Free Libraries, of all things. Last summer in Kansas, a 9- year- old was loving his Little Free Library until at least two residents proved that some people will complain about anything no matter how harmless and city officials pushed the boundaries of literal- mindedness: The Leawood City Council said it had received a couple of complaints about Spencer Collins' Little Free Library. Times followed up last week with a trend story that got things just about right. Steve Lopez, a local columnist, wrote about one such man, an actor who is refusing to move his little library from a parkway. His column captures the absurdity of using city resources to get rid of it: Having written previously about crackdowns on parkway vegetable gardens, I knew the city's argument is that you can't do anything that might block emergency vehicle access, obstruct motorists' views, impede pedestrians or make it hard to open car doors. But the Tenn- Mann Library, at the intersection of a four- way stop, does none of those things. And I can't help but point out that a city tree in front of Cook's house, on the parkway strip, has untamed roots that have lifted the sidewalk a few inches, posing a clear and obvious obstruction and tripping hazard. The city pays out millions of dollars in trip- and- fall settlements every year, and last time I checked, tree- trimming was on a 4. But put up a lending library and the city is at your door in a jiffy. The column goes on to note that a city spokesman . And it's possible that city arts funds could be tapped to pay for the permit. We've constructed communities where one must obtain prior permission from agents of the state before freely sharing books with one's neighbors! And their proposed solution is to get scarce public art funds to pay for the needless layer of bureaucracy being imposed on the thing already being done for free. The power to require permits is the power to prevent something from ever existing. This lovely movement would've never begun or spread if everyone who wanted to build a Little Free Library recognized a need to apply and pay for a permit. Instead they did good and asked permission never. Radical libertarians who object to all zoning and building codes are told that they're necessary to keep refineries from operating next to day care centers and to ensure that houses don't fall down in earthquakes or burn up due to faulty wiring. And like most, I favor some zoning laws and building codes. One needn't even be a squishy libertarian to object when power ceded to government for such purposes is then used to interfere with a harmless activity to which almost no one objects. In Shreveport, there was a community outcry and some much- needed civil disobedience. The Shreveport Timesreported: To protest the shutting down of a Little Free Library on Wilkinson Street, artist Kathryn Usher placed a stack of books on a wooden block outside her Dalzell Street home. A sign reading 'Free Range Books Take One Leave One' hangs above it. Her action was in response to a notice a Little Free Library's owners, Ricky and Teresa Edgerton, received from the Metropolitan Planning Commission's zoning division. If not, they risked further action if the matter were sent to the city attorney. Alexis de Tocqueville would approve. Those exploiting overly broad laws to urge that they be torn down are a national disgrace. Hitfile. net – your free unlimited file storage. Three years ago, The Los Angeles Times published a feel-good story on the Little Free Library movement. The idea is simple: A book lover puts a box or shelf or crate of books in their front yard. Neighbors browse, take one. POLITICO Magazine subjected the GOP frontrunner to our fact-checking process. The Mary Sue has decided we will no longer be promoting the HBO series Game of Thrones. Facebook is not making all your posts public, so posting an ineffective legal notice on your Facebook page is pointless.
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