Little Free Library at Esther Place

Early this summer the founder of Peekskill Walks reached out and asked if I’d be interested in building a Little Free Library for Esther Place, a former street that has been shut down and turned into a much needed outdoor community hangout spot.

Sure! I love woodworking, books, and hanging out at Esther Place drinking my coffee while Charlie plays with the blocks and chalk, so I was in.

I didn’t use a set of plans, but I did look at a bunch to get an idea. I sized it to fit the space, and went with roughly 28″ tall x 16″ wide x 15″ deep. This is tall enough for two shelves, with the bottom being tall enough for big children’s books. This was important to me, and I borrowed some of Charlie’s books to make sure they’d fit.

It was going in a covered nook, so it didn’t need shingles or a wide overhang on the roof.

I made it out of 3/4″ exterior grade plywood. I started with the box. I made a little corner clamping jig to help me hold the pieces together for screwing. I had to shave down a couple parts with the block plane so the angled roof would sit flat.

Next was the door. I wanted the middle to have plexiglass, so I built it like a frame. I used L brackets on the back side. Everything fit pretty nicely on the first try. I was pleased.

I used a little bit of everything to make various cuts. Some were on on the table saw, some bandsaw, others were with a mini circular saw, and the door miters were on the miter saw.

I gave everything a nice sanding and then handed it off to another volunteer to paint it. Then it came back to me so Charlie and I could caulk the inside and add weather stripping.

It is sturdy and bolted in place on metal brackets.

It was on private property so we didn’t have to deal with city permits. I was wary of drilling into someone’s wall without knowing what was on the other side, so the building owner connected me with his maintenance guy to help me hang it. That was a good move because there was a pipe exactly where I wanted to drill, and the wall was thinner than I expected.

We debuted it on September 22 with a little celebration at Esther Place.

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Since then I’ve checked on it a couple times and it is definitely getting some use and has book turnover!

It has been registered with Little Free Library, charter #192049. It should be on the official map soon.