Hadar, Neb., had no public library, a fact that distressed resident writer and prolific reader Charlotte Endorf.

"I'm an author," she said. "How can I be an author in a town with no library?"

Luckily, she hit on a solution: the Little Free Library.

These libraries in waterproof boxes are erected in people's yards, along country roads, in public places. They range from plain wooden boxes to structures that look like elaborate chalets to reproductions of red English phone booths.

The boxes hold books collected by or donated to a steward, whose job is to tend the little library, making sure it's clean, not leaking and that it contains books. The books inside are free for the taking. The borrower is asked to replace the book he or she takes with another - strictly on the honor system - or to bring the book back after it has been read.

It's a simple idea that has caught on.