As a Mother’s Day gift, 9-year-old Spencer Collins built a cute little box and put it on a pole in front of his house, stocking it with books. He attached a little sign “Take a Book, Return a Book.”
To you and me, it’s a “Little Free Library,” of which there are some 15,000 nationwide. To government bureaucrats, however, it’s another unconscionable act of rebellion, with a subject rising up on this hind legs to challenge the authority of the rulers.
The government of Leawood, Kansas, ordered him to take it down. You see, Leawood doesn’t allow private property owners to build structures in their front yards — not even a little box on a stick.
On Monday, Spencer appealed to the City Council, perched upon a milk crate so he could see over the podium. And, amazingly, the council unanimously ordered a temporary moratorium, through October, allowing little lending libraries in Leawood. What politician wants to tell a kid he can’t promote literacy?
So, Spencer will put his library back in the front yard. But that’s not all.
He says he’s installing a reading bench too.
Uh-oh. Look out, Spencer!
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