Have You Checked Out River Vale's Little Free Library?

RIVER VALE, NJ – Have you visited River Vale's Little Free Library?

Located on Blauvelt Street, the box allows for residents to borrow and share books around the community. It was built by Joe Taormina, an occasional woodworker, who saw the idea featured in an issue of "Wood" magazine and felt it was a worthwhile project to pursue.

Earlier this year, he put it on the edge of his property and has been maintaining it along with his wife. Taormina's book nook is part of a larger initiative launched in 2009 known as Little Free Library.

The non-profit that seeks to place small, accessible book exchange boxes in neighborhoods. The goal is to promote a love of literacy and provide easy access to books nearby.

Anyone can take a book or share a book at the free book-sharing boxes and there are more than 90,000 of these mini-libraries around the world. Some look like elaborate birdhouses and others are built from pre-existing structures, like phone booths or vending machines.

Within Bergen County, there's quite a few already, according to Little Free Library. Locations include Glen Rock, Fair Lawn, Teaneck, Ridgewood and Oradell.

Taormina said several of neighbors use his library and "there is a decent turnover" in books, however his street is "somewhat isolated" and doesn't get much traffic. He also gets a fair amount of donations from people, which has resulted in a pretty good inventory of books for children and adults, as well as magazines.

"This library is not just for this neighborhood, but for all who care to use it. The more who use it, the more interesting and diverse will be the books available," Taormina said. "The borrowing and swapping process as well as the books themselves could be a learning experience for the young of the neighborhood."

• Where: 807 Blauvelt Street, River Vale
• How It Works: Open the book nook's door, view the inventory and take up to four books and magazines at a time. Visitors are encouraged to sign the log book with comments about books they have read or are leaving in exchange.