Little Libraries Break World Record

Around a year since they started popping up in Southwest Minneapolis, most people probably recognize those distinctive, peak-roofed boxes mounted on mailbox posts.

These Little Free Libraries may seem everywhere, but now it's official—they're the most common kind of library in the world after beating Andrew Carnegie's record earlier this week, according to CityPages. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the industrialist and philanthropist established 2,509 public libraries around the world, including four in Minneapolis. 

But, CityPages reports, this record could be even more impressive, as Little Free Library co-founder Todd Bol estimates that around three-quarters of all LFL owners don't register their libraries after buying them. The library pictured above, for example, sits in Kingfield near the corner of East 36th Street and 1st Avenue South, but doesn't appear on Bol's map of registered libraries. 

Many stores in Southwest Minneapolis, including the , carry Little Free Libraries.