There is a new library in Sacramento – but you won’t need a library card or an ISBN to borrow books here.

Jef Spencer has opened up his own Little Free Library to the community, a small bookcase stationed at the edge of his front lawn located at the 5800 block of Revelstok Drive. There, people can take a book, donate a book, or exchange a book.

Spencer, who is a woodworker and does volunteer work for the Boy Scouts and other programs geared toward children’s education, said it seemed like a great way to get kids to read.

“I read a link to an article that a friend had posted on Facebook,” Spencer said. “It was about a couple in Wisconsin who had come up with the idea for the Little Free Library.

“I decided to give it a try because it seemed like a cool project," Spencer added. “I always look for ways to give back to the community and this seemed perfect.”

The Little Free Library is a good opportunity for children to read because the city’s public library can seem daunting or boring, he added.

“The Little Free Library is out there 24/7/365,” Spencer said.

He put a waterproof coating on the bookcase so that it can stay outside and open to the community even in the rain.

With a single shelf and a Plexiglas window on the door, the Little Free Library was hand-built by Spencer and can stock up to 30 or 40 books at a time, depending on their size.

On the bookcase, “Little Free Library - take or leave a book” is written.

“I will put any book up there I can,” Spencer said.

Spencer added that he relies heavily on the donations of others to stock it.

“I encourage people to donate books,” Spencer said. “Friends give books to me, co-workers will give them to me at work, and I even have bagfuls of books dropped off anonymously at my doorstep.”

Kids books, romance novels, how-to books, cookbooks and magazines – Spencer said anything with words can go in the Little Free Library.

“There are used and new books,” Spencer said. “There have been some things (in the bookcase) that have surprised me.”

Spencer said he never thought he would see books like “Harry Potter” in the bookcase.

Some other newer books he has seen in the bookcase include: books from the “Twilight” series, books from the “The Chronicles of Narnia”, and Nora Roberts books.

Spencer said that even antique books are rotated in the library, and some that will be added in the library in the future include “The Robe,” by Lloyd C. Douglas (1944), “The Nymph and the Lamp,” by Thomas H. Raddall (1950), “Doctor Nye,” by Joseph C. Lincoln (1923) and “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” by James M. Cain (1934).

There have been over 120 books taken from the library and just under 40 magazines for people to enjoy, Spencer said.

He added that he cannot keep up with the rate at which the books leave the shelves, and that he hopes the Little Free Library inspires people to clear off their own bookshelves and donate, because he cannot maintain it without the support of the community.

Spencer said there have been a few mishaps with the bookcase including finding garbage among the books and seeing a few books thrown into the street by kids who walk home from the nearby elementary school.

Despite this, Spencer said he perseveres.

“If even one kid picks up a book and reads it, it is worth it,” Spencer said.

Spencer said there is one little girl, about 7 or 8, who walks home from school with her parents. He said she will take a book and bring it back when she has read it.

Even thought Spencer said no one has to bring a book back, providing the community with a book is what his Little Free Library is all about.

Spencer has a Facebook page and a Twitter to get the word out about what’s new in the Little Free Library.

For more information or to follow Jef Spencer’s Little Free Library, click here for Facebook or click here for Twitter.