Your daily facepalm. Nine-year-old Spencer Collins of Leawood, Kansas decided to build a free library on his parents' property for Mother's Day. Unfortunately for the citizens of Leawood, the town is fighting back against the tyranny of free books. From Watchdog:
A municipal statute designed to ban all detached structures is being levied against Leawood residents Brian and Sarah Collins after their 9-year-old son, Spencer, worked with his dad and grandpa to build the Little Free Library as a Mother’s Day gift.
The concept is nothing if not quaint; think “take a penny, leave a penny,” except with books. While the initiative has been allowed to flourish unhindered in surrounding communities such as Prairie Village, Leawood has taken a strict stance against the matter. The issue isn’t the diminutive library’s existence, but rather its location.
City code starkly forbids any detached structure, “including garages, barns, sheds, greenhouses, above ground pools, or outbuildings.” The Collins would need to attach the storage box to their house to comply with the law, but that would also drastically reduce its current curbside visibility.
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