Little Free Library Foundation Honored For Contributions To Global Literacy

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The world's first Little Free Library popped up in western Wisconsin over a decade ago. Now, the organization is being honored for its contributions to global literacy.

The Little Free Library Foundation announced this week that it's received the 2020 World Literacy Award, a prize given out by the World Literacy Foundation.

"It is an honor to be recognized by the World Literacy Foundation for Little Free Library's work in expanding book access," said Greig Metzger, Little Free Library's executive director, in a statement.

Leaders in the World Literary Foundation noted that Little Free Library's work to foster a global community of readers is especially important amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as students around the world are not attending in-person classes, a situation that harms disadvantaged students in particular.

The Little Free Library Foundation says more than 100,000 of its inspired book-sharing boxes can be found around the world, in more than 100 countries.

The first Little Free Library was built by Todd Bol in Hudson, Wisconsin, in 2009. Bol died in 2018 following a battle with pancreatic cancer.