About 40 Plano families and volunteers built  20 Little Free Libraries as a part of a national movement to instill and promote literacy and a love of reading. Little Free Library founder Todd Bol has been touring Texas since March 2 and stopped by Harrington Public Library in Plano March 15 to build bookcases that can be placed outdoors where people can put a book in and replace it with one of their own to continue the circulation. Jane Lilliston, Plano Family Literacy School director, said they've collected about 400 books so far from the Girl Scouts and are expecting more from Toyota members. The 20 Little Free Libraries will be placed in different locations in Plano by April, she added. Little Free Libraries started operating in early 2009 when Wisconsin resident Todd Bol built a wooden bookshelf-like structure in the shape of a small house filled with books to remember his mother—an avid reader and teacher—in his front yard for people to borrow. After getting a good response from his neighbors and friends he and his friend, Rick Brooks, decided to go beyond Bol’s front yard and spread the love of reading elsewhere. "Take a book, leave a book" is the motto, Bol said adding that building a Little Free Library in different cities means expanding the conversation about literacy in the nation. "Everybody who puts one of these [little libraries] in their neighborhoods becomes a local neighborhood hero," he said. "This is about connecting the community. This is about stimulating or building excitement around reading and literacy." The Plano project was a part of Plano ISD's Toyota Family Learning service project—one part of a grant the Plano Family Literacy School received last year from Toyota.