There are tradeoffs to anywhere you live. Poorer neighborhoods tend to have higher crime rates. But wealthier neighborhoods tend to have a more insidious problem: snitches. You know the type, a nosy neighbor who calls the city if they notice anything they don’t like about a neighbor’s property. Brian Collins decided to put up one of those adorable little free libraries that you see springing up throughout metropolitan areas. They’re little more than cabinets where people can withdraw and deposit books. Usually they’re based on the honor system where for every book you take you leave one in its place. But the city recently caught wind of Mr. Collins’ free library and told him that it had to go:
LEAWOOD, KS (KCTV) – Can a library be illegal? The City of Leawood says yes.
Little Free Libraries are popping up across the metro. They allow book lovers to borrow and share their favorite books whenever they want.
“We came back to find a letter from the code enforcement telling us it was an illegal dwelling or structure,” Brian Collins said.
Whenever city officials move in on little things like this it’s always in response from a neighborhood snitch. Can you spot the snitch in this story? There he is:
Not everyone thinks it’s fun. Another neighbor told KCTV5 off camera he’s glad the city is making Collins remove the library because he believes it’s an eyesore for the neighborhood.
And like any neighborhood snitch he’s too much of a chickenshit to reveal his identity. As the popular saying goes, this is why we can’t have nice thing. These free libraries are a neat idea that I believe promote literacy. They offer a free, convenient way for people in a neighborhood to share books. But every neighborhood has that one asshole who calls the city whenever he sees something he doesn’t expressly approve of, regardless of how petty his complaint is.