Library Love Letter

The mission is to spread kindness and curiosity by leaving artfully crafted letters in public places for strangers to find.

I swear these letters tell me where they want to be placed. Does that sound crazy? The first letter wanted to be left in a bank lobby. The second letter asked to be placed in a specific public library. There also seemed to be some urgency to its request. I hadn’t visited this library in years. I looked it up online to verify the address and discovered this library was closing down for renovations in three days! I needed to complete this delivery pronto.

That Saturday I drove to the library expecting crowds of folks checking out and returning books before it shut down for many months. Instead I walked into an empty cavern, already abandoned except for the librarians. One librarian in particular kept walking near me as she returned books to the stacks.

I felt oddly nervous. One thing about this mission is to never get caught placing a letter. Whenever I started to place it, this librarian would walk by. I started second guessing this location, even though the letter told me to come here. I nearly gave up. But I chose to trust the letter’s wishes to come here. After all, had I waited a few more days, the library would be closed until next fall.

Finally I snuck into an aisle near the back wall to get more privacy although the odds of someone finding my gift would decrease drastically. A book was on display, held by a little wood stand. This would have to do. I quickly placed the envelop reading “Dear Stranger” across the front into the wooden stand, snapped a few pictures and hightailed it outta there. I half expected the librarian to say, “I see what you did!” or “Wait! You left something behind!” but she didn’t.

Pheww. Second letter drop completed!

A few days later I received the sweetest message from a library employee. The staff had found my letter while packing up the library for closure. It was very special to hear how the letter was received and how it brightened the day of a few librarians. The spirit of this project was captured in this magical encounter.

Never again will I doubt a letter’s whisper telling me where it wants to go. Letter number three? “Grocery store. Cereal aisle. Next to the Cheerios,” it says. Me: “Okay. Let’s do this.”