DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A man has removed the books from the little free library he erected at his Des Moines home and replaced them with newly treasured items: toilet paper, wet wipes and medical gloves.
After Bob Meeley stocked those mundane products - much-sought-after as the coronavirus spreads and people heed officials’ advice to stay home - he posted the location last week on the neighborhood app Nextdoor. Several items had been taken and replaced within two days, he told The Des Moines Register.
“I don’t care who you are, where you’re from or what you’re taking and why - it’s none of my business as long as it helps,” Meeley said.
His goal is for others with little free libraries to fill them with supplies that other people can’t get due to shortages.
Meeley knows what it feels like to need help: He and his family were temporarily displaced in 2008 when their home was flooded by the Raccoon River.
“I know the feeling intimately, the sort of helplessness you can feel, and here’s something I can control at least from the baseline that we have and we’ll see if it takes root,” he said.
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