Quick: I Need An APP Maker!!

Recently, I was talking to someone about my Little Library. It has had a positive impact in lives of people who have come to our home (not even realizing we had the library!). They either took books, left a book, or said they would be coming back. It makes me happy to have something that affects others in our community. All while fulfilling a wish I've had for years. 

One of these recent conversations I had, was about how there should be a game app for Little Libraries. Picture it as a sort of Hide-n-Seek thing. Like Geocache. Like Pokemon GO. But for BOOK LOVERS! Can you imagine how much fun that could be?! Okay, I'm calm now. Excited, but calm. Let's rationalize such a thing. 

But they have a locator for Little Free Libraries, you say.

Sure they do. But in order to have your library on their locators and app, you have to pay for it by purchasing a charter sign. And honestly, people like me can't afford that. Who is paying to have their little book nook featured these days with our broken economy? So here is where I'm proposing something totally different. 

A free app. That people can create an account with. It will have map functions that allow you to search your area and find Little Libraries - FOR FREE! If you have an account that is showing your library, you'd have a photo so people know what they are looking for. Maybe tell what ages your included books are for. Let people know if you prefer they exchange, borrow, or just take books. Personally, I prefer people take a book. I have told locals that I talked to that I want them to take a book and not worry about bringing it back. Share the books with others. Find their new favorites. If they feel like dropping another book in, great! Maybe I will find a new favorite for myself or my kids. 

Step up the fun factor a notch!

Maybe set up events sometimes for a search. Find this little library and sign a log. Or enter a giveaway. I don't know. But make it a challenge that others can enjoy. See who can find the most maybe? Especially during summer and winter breaks. This gets parents more involved too. I know that seems like a foreign concept to so many, but if a parent promoted reading more, their kids would show improvements in other areas of their lives. Reading is proven to have positive results in grades, learning, and just in living. Reading takes us all to another place, to be someone else for a while, to live a different life. It teaches us new things that can be useful in real living. 

One final note...

There is another benefit to this idea. It would bring the community together more. There are a lot of things said about how a Little Library has brought people to meet each other. Neighbors meet neighbors. Discover things they share in common. Look out for each other more. Could you imagine the changes your own street might see if that were the case? We have amazing neighbors! I know 3 of them by name. And we are getting to know them better as time goes on. One of the families on our street has even talked about homeschooling their grandson and asked about getting help from me. See? Finding things we will have in common! This is something we all should want to cultivate in today's world. There are just so many reasons we want to avoid each other. But that just makes more issues. We need to be coming together more. Building each other up more. 

What if creating such an app could do just that? Can you imagine it? Because I could... 

Leave me a comment below letting me know your thoughts. And if you have heard of something like this already started, please let me know so I can join the fun!

Apps We Wish There Were

 I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who has heard the phrase, "There's an app for that." If you were to scroll through the app store, I'm sure you would find there is nearly an app for every single desire any given person might have. However, there are some apps that I find are seriously missing from the mix. And I'm curious as to what you think about them as well. So here is a list of apps I think would make life... interesting, to say the least.

1. The Find My Prince app - This could also be to find your princess. But let's not say it's simply another dating app. No, this application would be something far more intricate. This app would alert me as to when, where and how I'm to meet my shining other half. After all, how many of us wish we hadn't had to go through 1-??? bad relationships before we found the soulmate we now hold dear? How many of us wish we could just simply stroll through life until the alert goes off before we have to worry about if this one or that one could be THE ONE? Granted, on the flip side, we wouldn't be stronger, braver, raise our self esteem, etc. if we knew all the details. Right? So as amazing as it would be, I suppose it would really dull things too...

 

2. Haggle Cadabra - How many of you wish you could negotiate prices everywhere you go? Do you have the skills to do so at yard sales and flea markets? This app would allow you to say the right things to get the price you want by putting the wording directly on your screen! Or upgrade to the Mega Haggle Cadabra and have your voice simulated through your phone to do all the talking for you. Watch the savings flow freely! 

3. The Un-Calorie Diary - What if you could be rewarded for all those calories you didn't eat? Let's say you didn't have those extra 2 cookies with your sandwich. You input the foods you didn't eat, it will figure out how many calories you avoided, and then deduct that from your weight! I think I'd lose weight a lot faster if this was my reward system. I can't handle counting calories. I can't stand being told what not to eat. So reward me when I make a good choice and I will be more willing to keep it up! Let's even take it a step further - tell me when I have reached my limit of chips. If you are like me, you have those moments where you could eat the whole bag because they are just that good and no one will stop you. This app monitors each chip you crunch down and sounds an alarm when you have reached the maximum of your serving.

4. Husband and Children Translator app - The most important part of a healthy relationship is communication. Despite this, one of the top reasons a relationship fails or couples divorce is failure to communicate. Not always because we don't speak, but because we don't seek to be understood by speaking clearly. Or, even more so, we miss each other's meanings when we interpret it the way we think they are saying it. Same goes for our children, if you think about it. My son has a tendency to say things that he finds hilarious, however, they come off insulting. Like the day he looked at me and said, "Mom, you're not fat. You're just fluffy." Great. I'm not a giant mass. I'm a marshmallow. In his way, he was trying to make me feel better about how I look to myself. In my mind, he's making me feel worse. Our significant others sometimes do this too. On the flip side - be prepared to have your mind blown if secrets are revealed...

5. Drab to Fab app - We look in the mirror, shrug, and tell ourselves that we look good enough or great. But what if we missed something? After all, I can't see all of my backside. Can you? What if we had an app for that? It could take a 360 degree look at us and tell us what we are missing. A better color lip gloss? Hair up or down? This earring or that? With or without the scarf? We would never have to second guess our style again.