Little Free Libraries and founder's family are at odds

A Little Free Library in the Hawthorne neighborhood of Washington, D.C. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)
A Little Free Library in the Hawthorne neighborhood of Washington, D.C. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

Little Free Libraries are the very embodiment of neighborliness. Those handmade wooden cabinets are both receptacles for sharing and expressions of community pride, no matter what moldy tomes you stash inside them.

But a little more than a year after the death of Todd Bol, the creator of Little Free Libraries, there is discord in the land of literary freecycling. Those quirky curbside bookcases are at the center of a dispute over a family legacy and a legal trademark. The Bol family — led by Todd's younger brother, Tony — and the Little Free Library nonprofit Todd co-founded are squabbling over what words can be used to describe the boxes.

Shortly before his death, at 62, of pancreatic cancer, Todd sent a message to the world: "I really believe in a book in every hand. I believe people can fix their neighborhoods, fix their communities, develop systems of sharing, learn from each other, and see that they have a better place on this planet to live."

People often referred to Todd Bol as a Johnny Appleseed. He began with a single seed — a book box he made of wood from his garage door and planted in his front yard — and watched as it spread through his Hudson, Wis., neighborhood and beyond.

Tony Bol believes that he is carrying out Todd's vision. Little Free Library believes it is protecting it. Todd's 31-year-old son, Austin, says he knows one thing for sure about his father: If he knew about the schism, "it would break his heart."

The trouble began in November 2018, when Tony's brief stint as interim executive director of Little Free Library ended. (Tony says he was dismissed; Little Free Library says it cannot comment on confidential employee information.)

On Jan. 2, Todd's birthday, Tony started Share With Others, a for-profit company that sells, among other things, wooden boxes with a storage area for books. Tony, 61, says the Share With Others idea was a project he and Todd discussed and that some proceeds will go toward a foundation honoring his brother.

In June, Little Free Library filed for a new trademark for use of the words "Little Free Library" in connection with "wooden boxes with a storage area for books." (An earlier trademark, initiated by Todd Bol and Little Free Library co-founder Rick Brooks, was more limited in scope.)

Margret Aldrich, a spokesperson for the nonprofit, says the new application was a response to infringements on platforms like Etsy and Amazon. In one case, Aldrich says, a company in Ukraine was selling book boxes called "Little Free Libraries."

Tony says the Little Free Library's June trademark application is an overreaching request, "akin to some organization wanting to own all birdhouses by applying to have trademark control over 'wooden boxes with a nesting area for birds.'"

Aldrich responds: "People can't sell things using our name," adding that the organization does "not have — nor are we seeking — a trademark over all wooden book boxes."

Things escalated in September, when Share With Others shuttered on Etsy for two weeks, Bol says, after objections were raised over its use of the words "little library" and other variations, on its product descriptions. Share With Others — based in the Bols' hometown of Stillwater, Minn. -- had to eliminate some products, Bol says, and change its name from "Little Libraries From Share With Others" to "Sharing Libraries From Share With Others." An events programmer for Minnesota Public Radio, Bol says the shutdown and wording changes cost him "thousands and thousands of dollars."

The issue of trademark in cases like this is complicated, says Madhavi Sunder, a professor of law at Georgetown. "Little Free Library does have a right to prevent confusing uses that would make people think a box is coming from their nonprofit organization," she says. "But as long as people are using the words descriptively and in good faith — to simply describe their box — they have a fair use right to do that."

When you buy a book box from the Little Free Library organization (for roughly $300 and up), it becomes a part of the official network with a number, a plaque and a place on a map. If you build your own box, you can pay $40 for the plaque and registration.

There are more than 90,000 registered Little Free Library book-sharing boxes in 91 countries [including about 175 in Arkansas]. About 60% of little libraries — lowercase — aren't registered with the organization.

Style on 12/23/2019

CORRECTION: Members of the family of the Little Free Libraries founder are at odds with the nonprofit over a legal trademark. A headline on an earlier version of this story misrepresented who was involved in the disagreement.

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