Little Free Libraries are the very embodiment of neighborliness. Those handmade wooden cabinets are both receptacles for sharing and expressions of community pride.

But a little more than a year after the death of Todd Bol, the beloved creator of Little Free Libraries, there is discord in the land of literary freecycling. Those quirky curbside bookcases are at the center of a dispute over a family legacy and a legal trademark.

The Bol family — led by Todd’s younger brother, Tony — and the Little Free Library nonprofit that Todd co-founded are squabbling over what words can be used to describe those boxes dotting neighborhoods across the country.

Shortly before his death at 62 of pancreatic cancer, Todd sent a heartfelt message to the world: “I really believe in a book in every hand. I believe people can fix their neighborhoods, fix their communities, develop systems of sharing, learn from each other, and see that they have a better place on this planet to live.”

People often referred to him as a Johnny Appleseed. Like that mythic figure, he began with a single seed — a book box he made out of wood from his garage door and planted in his front yard in Hudson, Wis. — and watched as it spread through his neighborhood and beyond. Tony Bol recalls his brother saying: “I’m going to see where my followers take me.”

Tony believes that he is carrying out Todd’s vision. Little Free Library believes it is protecting it. Todd’s 31-year-old son, Austin, said if his dad knew about the schism between them, “it would break his heart.”

The trouble began in November 2018, when Tony’s brief stint as interim executive director of Little Free Library ended. (Tony said he was dismissed; Little Free Library said it cannot comment on confidential employee information.)

On Jan. 2 (Todd’s birthday), Tony started Share With Others, a for-profit company that sells, among other things, wooden boxes with a storage area for books. Tony, 61, said it was a project he and Todd had discussed and that some proceeds will go toward a foundation honoring his brother.

“We want to continue Todd’s legacy for giving back to others,” Tony said.

Trademark update

In June, Little Free Library filed for a new trademark for use of the words “Little Free Library” in connection with “wooden boxes with a storage area for books.” (A previous trademark, initiated by Todd Bol and Little Free Library co-founder Rick Brooks, was more limited in scope.)

Margret Aldrich, a spokeswoman for the Hudson-based nonprofit, said the new application was a response to infringements on platforms like Etsy and Amazon. Other companies, including one in Ukraine, were selling book boxes called “Little Free Libraries,” so the organization “invoked its trademark protection,” Aldrich said.

Tony said the trademark application was an overreaching request, “akin to some organization wanting to own all bird houses by applying to have trademark control over ‘wooden boxes with a nesting area for birds.’ ”

Aldrich responded: “People can’t sell things using our name,” adding that the organization does “not have — nor are we seeking — a trademark over all wooden book boxes.”

Things escalated in September after objections were raised over Share With Others using the words “little library.” Etsy insisted that the company, which is based in Stillwater, change its name from “Little Libraries from Share With Others to Sharing Libraries from Share With Others.”

The company’s link was off Etsy for two weeks while the change was made. Bol, a longtime events programmer for Minnesota Public Radio, said the shutdown and wording changes cost him “thousands and thousands of dollars.”

Sticky laws

Trademark issues in cases like this are complicated, said Madhavi Sunder, a professor of law at Georgetown University.

“Little Free Library does have a right to prevent confusing uses that would make people think a box is coming from their nonprofit organization,” she said. “But as long as people are using the words descriptively and in good faith — to simply describe their box — they have a fair use right to do that.”

Of course anyone can make a box for books and put it on their own property. But when you buy a book box from the Little Free Library organization (for roughly $300 and up), it becomes something more: a part of the Little Free Library network, with a number, a plaque and a place on the official map. If you build your own box, you can pay $40 for the plaque and registration. By registering, you become a “steward,” a caretaker who is part of a larger community around the world.

Getting the initial trademark was a way to ensure that people had a good understanding of the concept, said co-founder Brooks: “This is more than a box; this is more than books; it’s a whole set of relationships. Selling the libraries was, in a way, a way to sell the ideas.”

Brooks, who retired from Little Free Library in 2014, said he’s confident that things will work out.

“I’m a real optimist,” said Brooks, who lives in rural Illinois. “The miracle to me is that a wonderful, simple idea has caught on with so many people in so many cultures.”

Everyone seems eager for tensions to subside, especially Todd’s son Austin. “I hate calling this a ‘dispute,’ ” he said.

Austin. a paramedic in La Crosse, Wis., added: “My father was my hero, my mentor, my counselor and my best friend. I know that he would want what’s best for everyone, and ultimately what’s best for our communities.”