Loaners: The Making of a Street Library

Once upon a time, Laura Moulton had an idea—what if she fixed up a cargo tricycle as a rolling library to loan books to Portland, Oregon's large unhoused population? She decided to give it a try, and it took off, becaming Street Books. One of her most prolific borrowers was Ben Hodgson, and over the years a friendship formed between them as Ben started to take on more responsibilities with the library. This story, with alternating chapters by Ben and Laura, is a snapshot of life on the streets in a decade of major changes in Portland, and is an excellent, compulsively readable tribute to the many ways we can connect with each other over books, no matter how different our lives and backgrounds.