Strengthening the community one book lover at a time!
The Greater Victoria Placemaking Network and book enthusiasts are celebrating a huge milestone for Bruce More—the Little Free Library (LFL) extraordinaire.
He recently built and installed his 50th LFL this fall at 731 Macan Place, which is being managed by Evamarie Nikelski and Chris Weicker.
This passion project journey began in March 2021—as a retired Music Professor from the University of Victoria, he was looking for something engaging and creative to do.
“I started with an LFL for our driveway, then met Teale and he began to connect me with people who were interested in mounting an LFL in their neighbourhood,” said More.
“A new found interest in carpentry combined with a lifelong interest in garage sales led me to expand my workshop and assemble recycled materials for my new ‘passion’.”
Both Nikelski and Weicker couldn’t be happier with their new LFLs and have praised More’s generosity and beautiful work, and they’re not the only ones!
More has collected fans from across the Greater Victoria area for helping them bring their vision and LFL dreams to life.
“I wanted to contribute to our community by having a free library. We were able to get two libraries but I wanted more in order to offer more choice to the visitors. Imagine my amazement that there was a gentleman who not only made little libraries but also delivered them,” said Nikelski.
“Bruce makes creative use of recycled materials. We tried to pay him for his time and materials but he would not accept a cent. I am humbled by this man’s generosity. He teaches others how to give to the community by his quiet and unassuming actions. Bruce is a gentleman in the most awesome of ways.”
Bruce’s 50th LFL joins three others as part of the Colwood Creek Park Libraries—the green box is for fiction, children’s books are in the red box, and the yellow box, which is More’s 50th creation, contains board games, puzzles, and other fun activities!
You may have spotted LFLs on your wanders around Victoria—they’re found in all sorts of different shapes, sizes, and colours!
They’re public book boxes that operate on the principle of ‘leave a book – take a book,’ so anyone can enjoy the pleasure of reading.
While the contents within each LFL can be random, some specialize in specific genres like poetry, nonfiction, children’s books, and language books.
Recently, the city has seen a growing number of LFLs that share plants, toys, household items, puzzles, food, and much more.
The Greater Victoria Placemaking Network (GVPN) runs the Pocket Places Project, which maps, promotes, stocks, and helps build LFLs across the CRD.
According to the release, the project has helped set up over 120 LFLs, and delivered over 85,000 books to LFLs across the CRD, most of them delivered by bike!
“When I first got involved in mapping little free libraries in the region, there were 111, there are now over 786,” said Teale Phelps Bondaroff, who has volunteered as the lead of the Pocket Places Project for the past seven years.
“One of the challenges with the project is that the people who would like to set up and host a little free library, and the people who know how to build a little free library, are often not the same people. In this way, Bruce has been a massive help to people who would love to bring a little free library to their community, but have no idea where to start when it comes to building one.”
Phelps Bondaroff describes LFLs as the ‘coral reefs for community’—steadily building connections between people and the community.
“It’s amazing how something as simple as a little book box can serve to build connections between people, create an identity of place, and ultimately help build community. Bruce’s dedication to little free libraries has helped foster community across the region.”
So, the next time you’re out on a walk, keep an eye peeled for these fantastic community additions!
To view the full LFL map, you can visit their website!
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