Cool Idea of the Day: The Floating Library

Shelf Awareness

The Floating Library on Cedar Lake in Minneapolis "is a real library. It has books that can be checked out, and it has a librarian, and what more do you need? Well, for starters, you'll need a canoe or a kayak or a paddleboat or water skis (on second thought, maybe not water skis) or some other floating device (an inner tube?) to get to the library," the Star-Tribune reported.

Last summer, Sarah Peters initially launched the "handmade wooden structure, 8 feet square, stocked with about 80 titles--primarily handmade artist books, not popular bestsellers," the Star-Tribune wrote.

"Art books are not a widely known art form," Peters said. "And so there's an element of delight and surprise. First of all, canoeing along and coming across a library. And then having it stocked with books that are totally unique. It's like this double whammy of inventiveness. It can expand people's ideas of what art is."

The library, which began floating on Cedar Lake last weekend, will be open the weekends of August 23-24 and 30-31. Peters "has also arranged for four return boxes on land for those who borrow books but don't feel like paddling back out the next weekend," the Star-Tribune noted.