In 2009, Todd Bol built a little wood box with shelves and a see-through door on the deck of his home in Hudson, Wisconsin. The micro-sized free lending library was a tribute to his mother, who was always welcoming neighbors inside.

According to the Star-Tribune:

So he built a few more boxes, selling one and giving away a few dozen more. Bol set a goal of 2,150 — to beat the number of Carnegie Libraries in the country. Less than a decade later, more than 75,000 dollhouse-size libraries have sprouted on front lawns in 88 countries.

Bol, who passed away this week at 62, may have done more than any other single person to expand book culture around the world in the past decade.

You can find your closest Little Free Library with this map here.