Little Free Library at The Arb in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Hi, my name is Joey, and I moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, in August of 2020. One of my favorite areas of this city is called Nichols Arboretum, colloquially referred to as "The Arb". It's a very popular hiking spot as it is located right next to the hospitals and undergraduate campuses of the University of Michigan, so there are always tons of people walking through the tall forests, rolling meadows, and trails along the beautiful Huron River.

In April of 2022, I was lucky enough to start a Little Free Library that the university allowed me to set up right next to the famous Peony Gardens at The Arb. Little Free Libraries are located throughout the city. However, I think this one is placed in a unique and high-trafficked area. As a graduate student at the University of Michigan, I sadly do not make enough money to fund buying new books for this library. For the past few years, I have been making trips to Goodwill and thrift stores to buy 30-40 books at a time to fill up the library. I've found many classic books and crowd favorites, and local stores affordably price their books at just over a dollar each. I was thrilled to take care of this library on my own for a while, but I realized I should reach out to my network and community to help provide free books to those going for a stroll through The Arb. (Just so you know, every time I have filled up the library with a new batch of books, within a few minutes I have seen at least one person go up to it and take a book. So this library gets emptied out within a few days/weeks.)

If you're a lover of books, free education, and spreading joy through reading, please consider donating to this GoFundMe. All the funds collected will be used to buy books at Goodwill or other stores to fill up my Little Free Library at The Arb. I would appreciate any support and encourage you to share this page with others you think may be interested in supporting this effort. The readers of Ann Arbor thank you!

UPDATE: With all the support the first library in The Arb received, I was able to install a second Little Free Library in The Arb. This second library is much larger and is located down by the Huron River. Thanks for all the support, and happy reading!!