Little Free Libraries (LFL) are popping up at parks, businesses and at the homes of local residents. However, the newly installed LFL in Atglen that was created by Jess Steck and her husband, Dan, is not your typical book-sharing box. This one is shaped like a vintage travel trailer.

"My husband is a carpenter and he said, 'I don't want to do a square or a box. I want to make it look like something interesting,'" said Jess, explaining the box's unique design. "We have done a lot of traveling with our RV, so we shaped it like a vintage trailer. He built it, and I did all the painting."

The trailer-shaped box is made of wood with a clear coating to protect it from the weather. "It has a license plate on the back that says, 'Read More,' (and) we made little wheels and a (trailer) hitch," noted Jess.

Each book inside the box is stamped with an image of the trailer along with the LFL charter number, which is registered at http://www.littlefreelibrary.org. It also bears the LFL motto, "Take a book. Share a book."

Jess said she has seen other LFLs and wanted to install one at home as a way to promote reading and the sharing of books. "We moved here from Delaware County, and we saw a couple (of LFLs) there. We always wanted to have one," said Jess. "(People) have all these books that (they) read. I am not a book keeper. If I read it, I am not going to read it again. This is a great way to share."

She also sees the LFL as way to interact with the neighbors, who were a great help to the Stecks when their property flooded last fall. "Our house got pretty flooded during the storm in September. People we never met came to help us," Jess said, noting that the Octorara Creek flows behind their home. "Having a Little Free Library for people walking by (where they) can grab a book is a way to further interact with the community. We moved in about week before the lockdown at the start of the pandemic, and we didn't get a chance to know people because we all went inside."

So far, Jess has already met one of her neighbors through the LFL effort. "When I was filling (the LFL) up, I gave a book to somebody walking by," she said.

The Steck LFL is located at 745 Steelville Mill Road, Atglen. A listing of other local LFLs can be found at the aforementioned website.