Little Free Library open to all

Teacher places free books in front yard

Literature lovers young and old of Pilot Point now have a Little Free Library to visit near the Square that opened its bright red door mid-day Friday.

Pilot Point resident and teacher Nikki Smith wanted to do some good for the community and share her love of books. Her dream came true with a Christmas present from her dad, Tom Smith.

“If you want to do one, you just make one or buy one,” she said. “My dad built me that one. I asked for that for Christmas and he built it for me. And, it’s a schoolhouse because I’m a teacher.”

Tom said Nikki mentioned in passing she wanted to put up a Little Free Library in her yard after she moved to Pilot Point.

“Nikki is my inspiration, as she is so giving to anyone in need, always looking to make a positive difference in other people’s lives,” he said.

Nikki moved to Pilot Point sometime in August from McKinney and teaches second grade in Prosper ISD. She said the process of setting up the Little Free Library is easy, and all the steps are laid out on their website.

“I’ve seen them around other towns and heard about them before,” she said. “I’m a teacher, and I’m working on becoming a librarian.”

Nikki said she had to register with the Little Free Library, and the site adds the location to their map.

“There’s such a good sense of community here,” she said. “And, I’m finally in a house where I don’t live in an HOA. I’ve wanted to have one for a long time, but I’ve always lived in an HOA.”

Tom said the building took between 10-15 hours, but the amount of time spent from design to completion is hard to guesstimate.

Tom said he spent countless hours going to various craft and antique stores and on the design.

“I viewed many other Little Free Library pictures online and also library kits sold by the Little Free Library Organization,” he said. “Nothing really jumped out at me as real special for her.”

Tom then decided to build a one-of-a-kind red schoolhouse because Nikki is a teacher.

“All in all, it was simply a labor of love, and so much fun to do,” he said. “If you could have seen her expression when she opened it, it was so worth it.”