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Have you seen the little free libraries that are popping up everywhere? A few years ago, we were driving down a cart path in town, and a family was building a little house in their yard and filling it with books. They added a sign that said “take a book, leave a book” and every time we drove by, my kids begged to stop and get a book. It became a great way for us to find new books to read without spending money, but it also became an incentive for my kids to be willing to get rid of some books that we had. We love reading, but the mountain of books sometimes gets to be too much.
When my brother moved, his family left all of their children’s books, which were practically new, and we were so excited to have them. We’ve moved them two times, and it was great to have so many books, but we also added a lot to our collection over the years, and with school coming up, I know we’ll add even more. While I was thinking about ways to purge some books without the kids getting upset, I was reminded of a book that a friend gave me once where she wrote a really sweet note in the front about why she loved that book so much. I talked to the boys and told them how fun it would be if we added secret notes to our free library books for kids to find when they read them.
They loved the idea, so the first thing we did was head to WalMart for supplies. We needed pens and cardstock, which is all you’ll need to add these fun notes to books you already have. I designed a little printable that you can download at the bottom of this post for writing them on too! While we were at WalMart we grabbed a few packages of pens- Precise V5 by Pilot Pen. 
My kids probably don’t noticed the difference in what they use to write, but I am a pen snob. When you have to sign all the paper that come home from school, you get picky. I begun only using very fine pens that had very clear lines, and smooth rich color. I like pens that last and are easy to read, and the Precise V5’s are exactly that. If you’re like me and precision matters, buy these pens. You’re going to want them once school starts and you have that giant stack of back-to-school papers.
Next, I printed and cut apart our little cards, and we headed to a park near the free library box to write them and add them to our books before dropping them off. The kids had picked out about six books they were willing to part with this time, and were really excited to write notes for the next person to find.
I gave them some ideas as starters, but was excited to see what they would come up with. Sawyer can read and write well, so he really took off with the idea. Rhett was most excited about the different colors the Precise V5 pens came in. Sawyer wrote cute notes and jokes and Rhett wrote the word “Christmas” over and over again with smiley faces haha. The person who gets that note might be a little confused, but for a four year old, it wasn’t half bad.
We spent the rest of our afternoon going down the path to two of our favorite “Little Free Libraries” in town and adding our books to the collection for other children to read. 
The kids had no problem saying goodbye to the books and were excited for other kids to find their notes. I even grabbed a book for myself to read and then I’ll add a little note and return it. I’m so glad we bought Pilot Pen Precise V5’s because once school starts, I know I’ll be signing a million agendas and permission forms, so go buy some before all the other Moms do, and head to this link to see the color choice and where you can purchase them, and click HERE to go to the printable’s website where you can right-click and save it. I hope this gives you and your kids a fun idea for a summer day before school starts and helps clean out your bookshelves!
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