Worried About Sidewalk Joy Vandalism?
What was left of my second iteration of my Ultra Tiny Little Free Library
A question I get asked quite often is what about vandalism? People are understandably worried about putting love and energy into a Sidewalk Joy spot that may get damaged or often emptied. The very short answer is yes, vandalism is always a possibility BUT it does happen less than you’d think. There are many factors that may affect this of course such as the amount of foot-traffic coming past your spot, what is in or at your spot (i.e. is it higher value), and of course your own community.
What it comes down is whether the positive experience you’ll get from creating and hosting a spot is worth the potential downside and that, of course, is a personal question.
In the three years that I’ve had my yard installations I’ve met hundreds of neighbors, gotten connected with folks all over the world, and had a wonderful time creating new dioramas, updating the exchange, and so on. I’ve rediscovered my artistic side and had many amazing opportunities because of this project. Conversely I have had my share of mild misfortune. There have been some folks who come by and take every single dino in the night for weeks on end, or rip out my littlest free library, or unscrew and take home my make-a-vase stand. I’ve had the Dinorama plexiglass torn off and once-gorrilla-glued dinosaurs wrenched off. Each time I’ve discovered someone being less than kind to the display, it’s always been a bummer of course. But I also feel that the joy my displays have brought others, the community connections I’ve made, and the collaborations that have happened have far, far outweighed the negative.
While my mishaps have been relatively mild, the Morrison Street Minigallery has had some significant setbacks and had to make the tough decision on whether or not to rebuild. Here’s an excellent article by Samantha Swindler of the Oregonian about that choice. Talking about her young daughter, gallery co-creator Alissa Tran says, “I think it’s really important to model for her and for others that bad things happen, and you could let those bad things change who you are, what you care about and what you do, or you can fight negativity when compassion and creativity and rebuild and come back.”
I don’t have many tips for preventing negative experiences to your Sidewalk Joy spot but a few things to consider are;
Sturdiness: I had to go through three iterations of the Ultra Tiny Little Free Library before I found one that would withstand someone wanting to rip it out and walk away with it.
Putting out a portion of your exchange items and/or bringing them in at night: If you have an exchange and are often cleaned out, consider only putting some of your exchange items out at a time and/or bringing most if not all in at night.
Creating a barrier for things that shouldn’t be taken: I have my dioramas behind plexiglass both to protect them from the weather and also to prevent folks from reaching in and taking pieces of them. Additionally for things I want folks to see but not touch, I put them behind a fence a little ways back in my yard vs. the exchanges that I have right up to the sidewalk for easy trading.
Ask the community for help: When I first made the Dinorama I didn’t have plexiglass on it and some dinos were taken. I am not even sure the person who took them was trying to be unkind. They may have just thought they were for taking. In any case, I let my friend know I was bummed and she reached out on our local Buy Nothing for some replacement dinosaurs. When she surprised me with them, I was so moved and reminded that there are so many lovely folks in the community who want to see spaces like this thrive.
Lastly, I’ll leave you with this; If you’re interested in making a spot, you might want to try it and see how it goes. You may be pleasantly surprised and if not, you can always take it down. We have almost 90 spots in Portland, Oregon alone and while a few incidents have happened, by and large these spaces are enjoyed immensely day after day by innumerable people.
I hope this blog has been helpful! And of course, if you do end up making a spot, I’d love to have you on the Worldwide Sidewalk Joy Map!