East Nashville Little Free Library emptied over the weekend

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Little Free Libraries is a nonprofit organization that typically functions on the honor system. You take one book or even leave one for others to read. But one East Nashville woman said that wasn’t the case for her little free library after someone emptied it over the weekend.

“It’s heartbreaking when you put so much love and attention into stewarding a little free library. I have heard of it happening to other people. It had never happened to our library. It made me really sad,” said Gracie Vandiver.

Vandiver is a children’s book author and in recent years wrote a book called Basil’s Quest. To spread the joy of reading, she brought a Little Free Library to East Nashville back in 2019.

Since then, the location has had plenty of visitors and she’s even decorated the space around it. But one recent visitor left her stunned.

“I came out Saturday morning to discover that the Little Free Library had been completely emptied. I also used to have a big tub next to it for overflow and it had a sign on it that said Help Yourself. But I meant to help yourself to the books, not the whole tub of books,” explained Vandiver.

East Nashville local Rachel Nelson is a frequent visitor and was disappointed to hear what happened.

“That’s really unfortunate. This is something that benefits everyone, and nobody should be hoarding it all for themselves,” Nelson stated.

But after getting the word out on social media, the library is now full once again. While there is no word on who may have taken the books, Vandiver believes the person will most likely sell them.

“It feels so good the community stepped into action so quickly and they put comments on Facebook. They came by with books,” Vandiver said.

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