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textbook or nonfiction recollection of historical and/or social events (each month
noted in the Figure in red); (b) social-studies-themed nonfictional and factual texts,
such as biographies or autobiographies (each month noted in the Figure in green);
or (c) historical fiction (noted in the Figure in purple). Recording the data each
month captured trends over time in the volume of books in the location, along with
the number of social studies or social-studies-related texts. After data collection at
the LFL site, we examined current events and news articles related to new state or
local educational policies to search for instances of external political pressure that
may have influenced a change in lending and sharing practices at the LFL location.

Scope
This research study had several limitations that require acknowledgement and
consideration. First, this study examined one LFL site in greater northwest Houston.
More than 150,000 LFLs exist across the globe, and this project studied a single site
for 2 years, from October 2021 through October 2023. The area is economically
stable with an above average per capita income in Texas and culturally diverse
population.

Research Questions
The following research questions guided the data collection and analyses of the
LFL site.
1. How do LFLs provide opportunities for community members to engage in
the reading and sharing of social-studies-themed (history, geography, civics,
economics, personal finance, sociology, and psychology) texts?
2. How can exchanging books in LFLs that are not controlled by government
bodies reflect a community’s curiosity about social studies issues?

Data Analysis
The LFL photographs each month were saved in a shared folder. Titles that were
identified as general social-studies-themed or primarily history-themed were then
recorded on a table in a Word document according to the three categories outlined.
The total number of books found in the LFL was also recorded. Occasionally, the
topic of a book was unclear, or the topic was either so complex or so simple that
clarification was warranted. In those instances, we used a Google search to read more
about the reviews and summary of the texts so we could properly code the books.
We agreed to count religion and religious-themed books as “social-studies-themed
books” and “based on a true story,” but we did not count those titles as history books.

Findings
Question 1 asked, “How do LFLs provide opportunities for community
members to engage in the reading and sharing of social-studies-themed (history,
geography, civics, economics, personal finance, sociology, and psychology) texts?”
We observed a tentative correlation between people feeling politically and socially
safe in their community and the number of books found in the LFL (see Figure). For
example, when considering the Figure, it is evident that this work began on the first
Wednesday in October 2021, and that was the year that Columbus Day transitioned
to being Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The number of books being traded at the LFL
was just below 30, which seemed a somewhat enthusiastic beginning to the research.
However, as time passed, a sharp fall occurred in the number of social-studies-

52 The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin: International Journal for Professional Educators