One room school houses from ages gone by dot our countryside. Seeing them reminds us of the preciousness of shared books, that let our children learn to read, on the prairie frontier, and do the same now.

One of the old school houses dots a Cook County Forest Preserve, at Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center, to the south of us, down Willow Springs Road in Palos.

This Little Free Library is a Little Red Schoolhouse. With starting ideas from the school house at the Nature Center, this little-red-and-free also has personality all its own.

Over more than 100 hours in creation, it has gained all you can see, including more than 600 cedar shake shingles individually applied. Tap and ring the bell! Swing open the door! Look in at the ceiling rafters!

This little friend is all solid wood, no plywood. It has all the structuring, painting, gluing, screwing, nailing, sealing, and polyurethane coatings to endure outdoor elements. Your Charter with LittleFreeLibrary.org has been paid, and all you need to do is register to have it on the Little Free world map. Secure it to a mailbox post, mount it to your front porch, or put it on a little red wagon and move it in and out with the weather. Or donate it to a school room, make it a playhouse, toy box, wedding gift envelope box, or anything else your own creativity suggests.