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There’s a storefront at our local mall that has a year-round sale where everything is 100% off. It reminds me a lot of my library, actually. Just today, when I left with 11 books, the bottom of my receipt said, “You saved $198.97 by using your library.” 

As an 80s baby, I grew up in the height of mall culture. The time I spent in malls, “window shopping” with my friends, rivals the time I spent in the library. The irony is not lost on me. Or perhaps it’s not irony, but a trope. A rivals-to-romance tale of two American institutions. (Tentatively titled A Court of Food and Beverages.)

Or a tragedy, depending on who you ask. While malls have more than survived in cities like the one I was born and raised—Miami, Florida—they’ve struggled in places like the mid-sized North Central Florida college town I’ve called home for nearly twenty years. The Forever 21 was not, in fact, forever. The Sears is now doctors’ offices. Then, more recently, a storefront became a “book nook”—essentially a Little Free Library at the mall. However, I prefer the term “S’mall Free Library.”

And while a library in the mall is nothing new—Dallas even boasts one fashioned like a bookstore—it’s new to us in Gainesville, Florida. In addition to shelves and book displays, the storefront it currently occupies offers armchairs and cafe tables. On my most recent visit, several folks were working on computers. Unlike a public library, no one staffs the space. However, the shelves and displays betray its stewardship.

Which is quite the happy ending. Quite like my visit to Fairyland’s library last month.

Have you encountered a library—little or otherwise—in an unexpected place? Drop a line in the comments or at ktaksier@ufl.edu. 

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