I love little free libraries. There are four that I know of within a very short walk of where I live (a mostly nice urban neighborhood in south Columbus). My fiancee and I stop by them regularly -- usually to donate, but of course we take a look at what's there when we do. She has picked up at least a couple of novels that way. Mainly, I love that they exist. They're little repositories of education, joy, and entertainment. And for what it's worth, there's certainly nothing wrong with reading for entertainment (and I wouldn't have balked if a student told me King Lear was "entertaining"). My fiancee probably reads more than me for entertainment purposes -- indeed, that's why she reads fiction at all. This past summer I managed to read a whopping six novels for entertainment purposes, and that's the most I have read in a good long while. My career naturally requires me to read extensively for professional reasons (be that for teaching or research), though I certainly enjoy most of what I read regardless. There's a difference, though, between that kind of heavily analytical reading and reading because you just want to sit down with a good, entertaining book. They're not always mutually exclusive, but sometimes have to be.
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