The Little Free Library (LFL) has announced the winners of the fifth annual Todd H. Bol Awards for Outstanding Achievement, all of whom "embody LFL’s mission to build community, inspire readers and expand book access for all," the nonprofit organization said in a statement. The awards are named for LFL founder Todd Bol, who created the first Little Free Library book-sharing box in 2009 in Hudson, Wis. The award announcement comes during LFL's inaugural Little Free Library Week, which runs May 14-20.
This year's winners are:
- Dynamite Book Club of Santa Ana, Calif., created by students Taylor Park, Layla Hahn, Susan Zhang and Alexandra Law
- Valerie Janis of the Pine Ridge Reservation (South Dakota), a member of the Bay Mills Anishinaabe community and outreach research technician at Oglala Lakota College Woksape Tipi Library who works with LBF to distribute books and promote literacy on the reservation
- John Manuel Newland of Athens, Ga., who builds Little Free Library book-sharing boxes for his community, including local schools
- Mai Le of Daly City, Calif., who started a gift economy group and the first chartered Little Free Library in her city
- Tiffany Lester of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, who through the Regina Kindness Rocks project started a Little Free Library for local children
- San Diego County Library of San Diego, Calif., where the board of supervisors voted unanimously in 2021 to install Little Free Libraries across San Diego County (to date, more than 43 Little Free Libraries have been installed and more than 20,000 books distributed)
