Take a book, leave a book, meet a neighbour

Tyler Reis-Sanford

Sandy Hill’s Little Free Libraries aren’t just helping neighbours get their hands on great books for free; they’re also building a sense of community when people need it most.

To Sabrina Mathews and Claude Schryer, owning a little library of their own has always been something they’ve wanted to do. So when a family friend moved and was unable to bring their library with them, they decided to fix it up to fit on their lawn on Chapel Street.

“I’ve always wanted to have one, I think it’s a nice offering to the community,” said Schryer. “What I try to do is make sure there are enough books in there. If it’s low I’ll let the neighbours know, but now it doesn’t need prompting. At one point there were so many books people were stuffing them in; there’s a sense of excitement.”

Schryer said that sometimes when he’s outside shovelling snow people will stop to ask him questions about how the library works, and that he had one very memorable conversation with a pleasantly surprised international student when he explained that they could just take a book for free.

“It’s a trust situation,” said Schryer. “People like to share books and this is one way of doing it.”

Mathews and Schryer’s little library is simple but stylish. It has bright blue paint, a see-through plexiglass door and small decorations done by a local artist. “Book Exchange” is written in English and French at the top, and there’s a small note dedicating the box to Mathews’ parents.

Mathews’ parents were both heavily involved in the arts and publishing world. Her mother was a manager of a publishing company, and her father, Robin Mathews, was a Canadian poet, professor at Carleton University and founding member of the Great Canadian Theatre Company.

“He was very involved in the Canadianization movement. He was part of a huge push at the time to get Canadian voices in publishing, academics, and the arts,” said Mathews. “When I was a kid, our house was always full of actors and artists rehearsing and working.”

Mathews’ and Schryer are both artists themselves and said they’d love to see other local writers and artists share their works in the little libraries around the community. Mathews said that their library often has a good balance of French and English books, a few books in other languages, children’s books, educational texts and more. They’ve also had artwork, zines, CDs (including some of Schryer’s own) and children’s toys shared in their library.

Apart from being a good way to connect through media, Mathews said that she enjoys catching glimpses of people going about their day as they stop to see what’s inside their little library.

“The last thing I want is for people to feel watched,” said Mathews. “But sometimes I catch these little moments.”

She shared a few of her favourite moments, including a woman who came in the pouring rain to drop off a book, and a work truck full of women in high-visibility gear who all stopped to take a book from the library.

“I just thought oh, that’s so charming,” said Mathews. “They’re up early on the job and still stopped to say ‘oh let’s go check out some books.’ The whole little picture was really truly wonderful.”

Despite other little libraries in Sandy Hill having occasional problems with garbage being left in them, Mathews’ and Schryer said they haven’t had any issues with neighbours being disrespectful.

Mathews said she was more concerned when she heard of little libraries in Ottawa being targeted with fascist and white nationalist literature, an issue that prompted police investigation back in February of 2025.

“It might get vandalized one day, but I think people respect and understand that it’s a community asset.” said Schryer. “It’s also been a family project, from our friends to us. Who knows what will happen in the future.”