Leave a Comment / Little Free Libraries / By Scott Johnson
If you read my Little Free Library guide, you already know I have a problem. This post is the “how to find Little Free Libraries” follow-up. I made a full video walking through my exact process, tap by tap, which you can watch here: (coming soon). But if you’d rather read it, or pause and follow along step by step, here’s the whole thing written out.
I’m on a Google Pixel, so my screenshots and steps are Android and Google Maps. If you’re an iPhone person, don’t worry, I’ve got you covered too. The app itself works the same on both, it’s just the “send it to my maps app” part at the end that splits into two paths.
Table of Contents
- Step 1: Download the Official Little Free Library App
- Step 2: Find Libraries Near You
- Step 3: Save Your Favorites As You Browse
- Step 4: Build Your Hunting Route
- On Android (Google Pixel / Google Maps)
- On iPhone (Apple Maps)
- Step 5: Working Your Route in the Field
- A Few Tips From Someone Who Does This Constantly
Step 1: Download the Official Little Free Library App
This is free, it’s run by the actual Little Free Library organization, and it’s the same map that populates their website. Grab it here:
- 📱 Android: Little Free Library on Google Play
- 🍎 iPhone: Little Free Library on the App Store
It’s a small download (around 11 MB, so it won’t eat your storage), it’s free with no ads shoving themselves in your face (unlike my own website. Sorry.) And you don’t need an account to start browsing. You’ll want an account eventually if you plan to save favorites or check in, but you can look around without signing up first.
Step 2: Find Libraries Near You
Open the app and you’ll land on a map, zoomed out, with big round numbers showing how many libraries are clustered in each area. I don’t actually live in Minneapolis. Just pretend. That bubble over the Minneapolis area says “50+.” Anything over 50 must show as “50+” because there are HUNDREDS in the Twin Cities area. Not 50ish.
Pinch to zoom in and those big clusters break apart into smaller numbered clusters, then eventually into individual pins once you’re zoomed in far enough. You can also skip the zooming and just search directly, a few different ways:
- Your current location (easiest, just let it use GPS)
- A specific zip code
- City and state, if you’re planning a trip somewhere else
- A charter number, if you already know the specific library you’re looking for
Step 3: Tap a Library to See Your Options
Tap any pin and a card pops up with the library’s name and address, plus four options: View Library Details, Add to Route, Get Directions, and Close. Get Directions sends you straight to your phone’s maps app for that one stop, which works fine if you’re only hitting one. Add to Route is the one you want if you’re planning to string several together, which is what we’re doing here.
Quick note since this trips people up: the heart icon in the bottom nav bar is Favorites, which is a separate thing from Add to Route. Favorites is for bookmarking a library to think about later. Add to Route is for building the actual trip you’re about to take today. Don’t mix them up or you’ll wonder why your favorited libraries never show up in your route.
Step 4: Build Your Route Right In the App
Here’s the part people ask me about the most, and it’s easier than I expected the first time I tried it. Tap Add to Route on the first library, then keep browsing the map and do the same thing to every other library you want to hit. Each one pops up a little “Library successfully added to route” confirmation so you know it stuck.
Once you’ve added everyone you want to visit, pull up your actual route list. You’ll see every stop listed by name, a Round Trip toggle (turn this on if you want the route to loop back to your starting point instead of ending at the last stop), and buttons to Clear All or Open In Maps.
Step 5: Finish It in Google Maps (or Apple Maps)
Tap Open In Maps and the app hands your whole route, every stop, in order, straight over to your phone’s default maps app. On my Pixel, that’s Google Maps. It shows up as a full route with each stop lettered A, B, C, D, the roads already drawn, and a total trip time and distance at the bottom.
Tap Done, pick your travel mode (driving, walking, or biking), and you’re looking at a normal Google Maps trip screen with your ETA, your total mileage, and buttons to Preview the route, Add Stops, or Share it. Tap Start and you’re off.
If you’re on an iPhone, the app steps are identical, since it’s the same app either way. The only difference is where Open In Maps sends you. If Apple Maps is your default, it’ll open there instead, with the same lettered stops. Apple Maps handles multi-stop routes a little differently under the hood (you can drag stops to reorder them with the hamburger icon next to each one, and it supports more total stops than Google Maps does), but the end result is the same: one route, loaded up, ready to drive. And if you’ve set Google Maps as your default app on iPhone instead of Apple Maps, it’ll open there and work exactly like my screenshots above.
Step 6: Working Your Route in the Field
Here’s the actual rhythm once you’re out driving around: Maps gets you to a stop, you hop out, dig through the box, film your dumb little video (optional, but recommended), grab a book or two, leave a book or two, hop back in, and tap next stop in Maps to keep the route moving. Once you’re done, pop back into the Little Free Library app to check in each one you hit so your visit history stays up to date.
It sounds like a lot of steps written out. In practice it’s maybe ten seconds of extra tapping per stop, and it’s the difference between an efficient little loop through your neighborhood and driving in circles wondering where that one library was that you saw on the map twenty minutes ago.
A Few Tips From Someone Who Does This Constantly
- Keep a stash of giveaway books in your trunk. You’ll blow through your “bring to leave” pile fast once you’re hitting five or six stops in a trip.
- Cap your route at a reasonable number of stops. I’ve learned the hard way that “just one more” turns a 20-minute errand into a two-hour afternoon. Not that I’m complaining.
- Check in as you go, not after. If you wait until you’re home to check in five libraries from memory, you will absolutely forget which one had the good hardcovers.
- Bring a copy of your own book if you’re an author too. I never leave home without a copy of Essays Out of Left Field in the car, for obvious reasons.
Watch Me Actually Do This
If you’d rather watch this whole process instead of reading about it, I made a full video walking through it start to finish, from opening the app to pulling up to the first stop. Coming Soon.
And if you haven’t already, check out my complete Little Free Library guide for the history, etiquette, and every other question people ask me about this hobby.
Do you use the app, or do you just wing it and hope you spot one? Tell me your Little Free Library hunting method in the comments.
