As the Coronavirus has imposed restrictions on most forms of exercise biking remains a good option to get outside for some fresh air and physical activity. Another good way to pass the time is reading! Swap boxes and little free libraries are great for such occasions. Here’s how they work: usually streetside, passersby are enticed to open them up. If something inside strikes their fancy they can take it or exchange it with something else. Almost all of the boxes on this tour happen to be specific to the exchange of books, but they all work on the same principle.
This tour has evolved over time, as suggested by the photos taken throughout the year. Due to the drastic changes brought on by the virus I decided to revisit all the boxes on the tour to check which ones are still sharing. Those that are I’ve identified with a green marker on the map. The ones that are closed until further notice I’ve identified with white markers and taken off the route.
We were inspired to put up a swap box in front of our place after discovering a number of others around town that had been created by the late street artist Elmaks. There is also an online group you can register your book swap box called Little Free Libraries. Here’s an article in the Kitchissippi Times on some of those local little libraries.
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First stop – Cambridge St North, just north of the Chinatown Arch!
Down Nanny Goat Cliff, at the corner of Preston and Elm, there sits the cleverly converted newspaper box Book Exchange.
Next it’s over to this great swap box at 249 Loretta Avenue.
A couple of blocks west at the corner of Beech Street and Bayswater Avenue you can’t miss this colourful Little Free Library/Boîte à livres.
A bit further down Bayswater, just north of Sherwood Drive, you will find this box with Tudor detailing, complementing the same style of the house in the background. There are mini solar panels at the base of the box and a string of red lights along the top so I’m guessing nightime visitors get an extra treat!
A few blocks away and up a hill you will find this very well constructed box.
Back to the north side the Queensway along Fairmount, then a couple of blocks west along Gladstone gets you to this next box on Melrose Avenue with a clever take on the ‘A-frame’.
Heading a few blocks north into Hintonburg brings you to this pair of book boxes at 50 Ladoucer.
A bit further west in Hintonburg you will find a box near the corner of Oxford & Pinehurst. This one has quite a history. In the Fall of 2016 someone complained about it’s original sprawling bungalow styling to city by-law and the owners were told to take it down by September 16th. Fortunately there was a last minute stay of execution and it got a reprieve. They then replaced it with a more compact design, which has since been replaced with the one that is there now.
Across the transitway there’s this fine tall box on Northwestern Avenue.
Our next stop is at the Corner of Carleton and Gould streets. A sign in the windowq proudly states, ‘Made by Quinn’. Well done Quinn!
We discover our next swap box just south of Wellington on Mayfair, where sits another super sweet Little Free Library. This one is hosted by one of the finest elementary school teachers we’ve had the good fortune to get to know.
A few blocks south brings us to this little library at 436 Mayfair.
Our route goes another couple of blocks east great Little Library box on Kenora St.
UPDATE – 2018: The Harmer St pedestrian bridge over the Queensway is being replaced and won’t be ready for another 2 years, so the present route as per the above map, goes along the Holland Avenue detour bike lanes.
At our next stop sits this generous two legged box outside the St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church. The little plaque on the front says it was made by the youth of the church.
A few blocks south you will find this great colourful box Hamilton Avenue South.
Right aronud the corner sits this lovely one on Inglewood Place.
Next one is on Ruskin Street. Now this one has a bit of a disturbing history – someone with arsonist tendencies was caught on tape setting a previous incarnation of the box on flames! But the udaunted swap box owners said ‘Screw you arsonist!’, and rebuilt their box.
UPDATE – Fall, 2018: A super cute little box for little swapable items has been attached to the side of the big box!
Over to Island Park Drive where this super sweet ‘petit bibliotheque’ has mini toad-stools for little ones to rest upon.
Over to this very beautifuly painted box on Evered Ave.
A mere couple of blocks west brings you to this stragetically placed box on Kenwood near Edison.
UPDATE: March 2020 The next box on the tour was a super sweet little swap box on Cole Avenue. – Sadly it’s gone. It was a favourite so I’m leaving a photo up in memory of all the joy it provided.
This fabulous box on Roosevelt Avenue has a dentil detailed gable trim and cedar shingle panelling!
Just a few blocks south/west brings us to this elegantly designed box. It’s got a corrugated pitched roof, a clear plexiglass door sans casing, and some nicely detailed colour coordinating.
The box on Mansfield has a bench to rest on while perusing the shelves. One shelf accepts exceptionally tall books.
A slight detour south to the Glabar Park neighbourhood brings you to this double-duty Little Library on Lenester Avenue. The lower box is labelled ‘Young Readers’. The upper box has stained glass windows!
Next you can find this fine book box on Midway Ave near Ancaster.
A quick jaunt down Woodland Avenue brings you to this most excellent box.
Based on similarites in design with the previous two boxes, I have a sneaking suspicion the next one on Apple Orchard Park came from the same designer.
Heading even further west, mostly along the Ottawa River Pathway, gets us to the Bayshore Park Community Garden & Oven which also has this big multi-layered swap box. The purple line on the above map shows a winter route, as the Ottawa River Pathway is not cleared. A more detailed description of this route can be found by clicking here.
Circling south mostly along bike paths into the Leslie Park neighbourhood brings us to two more boxes. The first is at 32 Abingdon Dr with a traditional styled hinged door. Unfortunately I cannot recommend a safe winter route to this box from the Bayshore Park box as most of the bike paths linking the two aren’t cleared.
The second is at 30 Harrison St that cleverly uses the JUTIS frosted cabinet door from Ikea.
Next is this box at 2423 Ryan Dr with a bench to relax and peruse the offerings!
Our tour heads east to this swap box at the corner of Sherman and Navaho Drive which has a little path leading up from the intersection.
Once again back onto The Experimental Farm Pathway before detouring onto this box painted all white on Kingston Avenue!
UPDATE June 2020 – This next box at the corner of Trillium Drive and Wallford Way is closed with a note suggesting downloading books from Amazon. I will put it back on the route when and if it re-opens.
The next most excellent box is on Bowhill Avenue.
There’s a box further south-east on Cahill St. To get there I crossed the Rideau River at Hogs Back Falls and followed the route shown on the map.
Further west along Uplands Drive you will find this great box called the Oak Tree Free Library.
The next few boxes to discover are in the Glebe. This one’s on Fourth Avenue, just east of Bronson.
This box is on Fifth Avenu.
This next box over on Thornton has great playful proportions!
Half way down the block on the opposite side of Thornton you will discover this great Book Sharing Zone box.
Our next box is just a few blocks over on Broadway Avenue.
Up and over the Rideau Canal along the Bronson bike lane brings us to Old Ottawa South. After cutting through Old Ottawa South through Brewer Park and an assortment of residential streets there is a short side trip over the Rideau River to visit this robust Little Library on Pleasant Park Road. The most convenenient access to Alta Vista along this route is along the awful narrow Bank Street bridge over the Rideau River. Walking your bike along the sidewalk bridge is usually the safest option.
One block south on Mountbatten Avenue you will find this wonderfully colourful box.
A short loop through the Alta Vista neighbourhood first brings us to this beautiful box with glass bead roof tiles on Featherstone Drive.
Our next stop on our Alta Vista loop brings us to this sweet one at 1647 Pullen Ave. Tons of TLC has been put into the painting details. gotta go see it to believe it.
A few blocks west brings you’ll find this Little Library on Devon St with a mini-bike weathervane keeping it company! UPDATE March 2020 – The post is still there but the box is gone. I’ll add it back to the route if it ever re-appears.
A little bit further north-west gets us to this swap box on Bloor Ave with quite an impressive base support structure. UPDATE March 2020 – A note on this box says it has been temporarily closed. It will include it on the route once I notice it’s open once again.
Continuing on our loop through Alta Vista brings us to this cleverly designed mobile unit on Knox Crescent.
Head back on over to the north shore of the Rideau River and follow the path along to the river to Belmont Drive where you will find this super sweet box.
A couple of blocks over you will see this great little library at 146 Sunnyside Avenue. Big footprint shaped concrete pavers invite passersby to peruse the shelves.
This nicely crafted box is located a bit further north on Glencairn Avenue.
Our next great box can be found just around the corner on Riverdale Ave. This one also has a generous concrete bench infront of it.
A bit north east on Belgrave Road lives this fine box, cleverly modeled after the house infront of which it sits.
One and a half blocks north at 75 Marlowe sits Mike’s Tiny Library. Super sweet!
Further east on Bower Street we find another fine box.
Nary a block over is this great box on Mutchmor Road.
Close by on Merritt Ave you will find this great little library.
A couple of blocks north on Drummond Street there sits this dynamic box-within-a-box.
Just a couple of blocks north you can find this fine box on Glanora Street.
Ride north along the Rideau Canal pathway then cut through the Ottawa U campus, then head east through the Sandy Hill neighbourhood along Wilbrod which is a one way street with a bike lane. Head one block north on Cobourg St where you will find this great box near the north/east corner of Stewart. It has hi-vs stickers on it’s legs, and a fine stepping stone to allow smaller readers to peruse the titles.
There are two fine boxes over in Overbrook. Cross the Rideau River across the fabulous Adawé pedestrian/bike bridge. To to the bridge head west along the Stewart St bike lane for one block then turn left onto Augusta Street. Augusta ends at Wilbrod but there’s a little paved path that takes you through from Wilbrod to Laurier. Cross Laurier and down the hill along Golbourn to Somerset. The Adawé bridge is at the eastern end of Somerset. Weave your way along a few residential streets to this fine Little Library on Queen Mary Street. There’s even a chair to relax in once you get there.
Just a few blocks north there sits this generous little library on Ontario Street.
Heading further east for quite a spell, one finds this hearty box at 20 Appleford St in the Cardinal Heights neighbourhood. These social distancing rabbits were ahead of me last time I visited.
Heading back west you will discover this fantastic box on Roanoke Street!
Next, over in Vanier there is this colourful box at 355 Pauline Charron Place.
Back to the bike path along St Laurent, head north then left on the bike path along Hemlock Road which gets you to this fine little library.
Next is this Little Library at Vachon & Dagmar.
Cross the river over the St Patrick Street bridge towards this bright red box at the end of Old St Patrick St. in Lowertown.
A couple of blocks north is our next box at 260 St Andrew St.
Next stop is in Sandy Hill infront of St Paul’s Eastern United Church on Cumberland Ave. At the time of my discovering this box the doors had unfortunately ripped off this generously proportioned unit. Hopefully they will be replaced.
Time to retrace our route back to the Rideau Canal before riding south into the Glebe. This sweet is box located at the corner of Strathcona and Metcalfe.
The next two boxes are neighbours on Argyle which is accessible via the bi-directional bike lanes along O’Connor. The first, introduced in the summer of ’17, is this brightly painted number.
The second box on Argyle has a little clock in the gable (UPDATE March 2020 – Sadly the little clock is gone but the box remains!). The surrounding landscaping is beautiful. There are also garden chairs to sit on while contemplating a potential swap.
Our next box is further west on McLeod Street.
Another fine Little Library can be found on Arlington a few blocks west of Bronson. UPDATE March 2020 – A note on this box says it has been temporarily closed. It will include it on the route once I notice it’s open once again.
There is a solar panel powering a light that turns on once you open the door to the box when it’s dark out. TRÈS cool!
A short detour west gets you to this box at 23 Balsam St.
Our final stop is this Mini Library, corner of Cambridge St N and Christie. This one takes taller books too.
Et voila!
I’ve been adding new boxes throughout a number of years as they are installed. If I’ve missed any please feel free to send me a note and I’ll include it on the route.
