Frederick woman's Little Free Library box stolen from front yard

FREDERICK, Md. - It's a nicely decorated blue box with a glass door that allows people in this neighborhood to imagine new adventures while also helping bring a community together - one book at a time. But for one Frederick woman, the Little Free Library located at the front of her home has gone missing.

Last year in May, Karen Fishburn placed a blue cabinet with flowers painted on the back of it on her front yard. Inside, free books were available for anyone interested in them. And for the past year, Fishburn's front yard library has been a popular place for people to pick up and drop off books to borrow and read.

Fishburn first became aware of this idea when she saw a little library during a trip to Vermont. She found it was one of over 36,000 Little Free Libraries located around the world. So she decided to become part of this book exchange network and had one built for her home.

There is no checkout system, library cards or return due dates for these books. Anyone who does take a book is encouraged to leave one of their own, but that doesn't always happen.

But last Tuesday afternoon, Fishburn found that someone had taken her library box and she reported it to police. She is still hopeful someone will return it, but if not, she plans to get a new one built.

If you have any information about the missing library box, you are asked to call the Frederick Police Department at 301-600-2100. Anonymous tips can also be left at 301-600-8477 or sent by text message to 240-674-8477.