Non-traditional little free libraries popping up across Pittsburgh area

A woman in Dormont is making it her mission to map all of the little free libraries in her community. 

Little free libraries are often placed by neighbors along sidewalks, allowing people to leave books they no longer need as well as encouraging them to take ones that interest them.

Two years ago, Amy Constantine says she and her husband built a little free library for their ever-growing collection of vinyl records, CDs and cassettes. Constantine says they inherited records or were gifted them, and it was a good way for them to get rid of any duplicates.

"Our music that we originally shared is long gone. This is all community music," says Constantine. "The neighborhood's been really generous about turning it over for us, right? We have new inventory all the time."

Constantine says her little free library inspired her to create a map of as many as she could find in her neighborhood. She says she was stunned to learn there were multiple within blocks of her home. 

"Dormont is 1 square mile, and we have 20 versions of free libraries," says Constantine. "They're everywhere. I was trying to document the cool ones or the different ones, like ours. We have a little free art gallery nearby. We have a little free plant stand nearby that has cut flowers, and so like there's just like a community of generosity that's happening sort of all the time with these."

Constantine says she also found one in Castle Shannon that offers Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars. She says since reaching out to community members for help on Facebook, she's added a new little free library to her map each day. 

"I want to do this thing because I want to know where the libraries are, and then it turns out everybody wants to know where the libraries are," says Constantine. "I don't know why I didn't think of it that way."

Constantine's list can be viewed through Google Maps.