📚

Opening the stacks…

Greater VictoriaLittle Library Librarian

🔍

🧭 Get Directions

The Library Box

Inventory

Scan the shelf

Take a photo of the shelf. We'll read the spines and you can fix anything we get wrong.

Confirming library

📷

Tap to take a photo of the shelf

Sending photo…

📷 We only spotted a few titles — if the shelf has more books, a retake with better lighting or a wider angle might help.

Here's what we found. Tap ✕ to remove a title, edit any text that's wrong, or add a title we missed below.

Add a photo of the box

Help others spot it on the street.

📷

Tap to photograph the box

Add a library

Help grow the map by adding a library you know about.

Library name (optional) Category Photo of the box (optional)

📷

Tap to photograph the box

Location

Tap below to use your current location.

Your stats

Counted from scans made on this device.

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Libraries scanned

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Books contributed

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Times shared

Badges

More scanners means more books you can find. Bring one in?

Badge earned!

Check your stats page any time to see all the badges you've earned.

Add to your Home Screen

Opened this from a text message or Instagram? Tap the ••• or Safari icon at the top of the screen first, to open this page in your browser — Add to Home Screen won't appear otherwise.

1. Tap the Share icon 📤

In Safari it's at the bottom of the screen. In Chrome or Edge, it's near the address bar at the top.

2. Scroll down

Find and tap "Add to Home Screen" in the list.

3. Tap "Add"

The icon lands on your Home Screen — tap it any time to open the app directly, no browser needed.

How this works

Libraries we know exist but haven't been scanned yet — still waiting for their moment

Libraries with at least one inventory on record

To find libraries near you

Tap 📍 at the top of the screen to centre the map on your location.

To see what's on a library's shelf

Tap its pin to open it, then look at the inventory section. You'll see the most recent shelf photos and the book titles read from them.

To search all libraries

Tap 🔍 at the top of the screen. Search by title or author to find every library where that book's been spotted recently, or switch to the Genre tab to browse libraries by what they're stocked with — both sorted by distance from you, so you're not driving to three libraries hoping one has it.

To add an inventory

Tap a pin to open the library. No inventory yet? Tap "📷 Scan the shelf" and take a photo. We'll read the spines automatically — you can fix anything we got wrong before saving. For best results, step back to get the whole interior in frame — one photo of both shelves beats two close-ups. Can't fit it all in one shot? After saving, we'll ask if you need a second picture to complete the inventory.

To add or update a photo of the library box

Open a library and tap 🏡 Update box photo at the bottom of the screen.

To add a new library

Tap ＋ at the top of the screen.

To see your stats

Tap 📊 at the top of the screen to see how many libraries you've scanned, how many books you've helped catalogue, and how many friends you've brought along — plus badges earned for helping make Little Library Librarian more searchable. All counted from scans made on your own device — no account needed.

Spotted something wrong with a library?

Use 🚩 on its page.

About this project

We're Jill and Joel, a writer and a professor, who have always loved little free libraries. We walk to them daily — usually with our dogs — sometimes hunting for the next book in a series we started from a box three streets over, sometimes just curious what the neighbourhood left behind this week.

Then one day we were looking for a specific book. The bookstore didn't have it. The library didn't have it either. So we started checking little free libraries around us, each time coming home empty-handed.

So Jill wondered out loud: what if you could search little libraries by title or genre — like checking gas prices? Joel loved the idea.

And now you're looking at it.

The more libraries people log, the more useful it gets for everyone — including you. Every scan you add helps someone find their next great read, and their scans help you find yours.

If you're reading this, you're a friend or a friend of a friend. We need about 500 libraries logged to get this moving on its own.

So if you're in: log a library today. Save it to your home screen. Scan a shelf. Then share it with three people who love to walk and read.

Thanks for being here (before it gets cool!).

We appreciate your help cataloguing our community's book shelves!

— Jill and Joel

Where the map came from

This started with location data from the Greater Victoria Placemaking Network, who've spent years mapping little libraries across the region — our thanks to them for the head start. Everything since then, every inventory and box photo, comes from people like you.

Your privacy

No account, no sign-up, no personal information. Your device gets an anonymous ID so we can show you your own stats — that's it.

Get in touch

Found a bug, have an idea, or just want to say hi? Reach out at littlelibrarylibrarian@gmail.com.