Big news: I finally finished the Little Free Library I’ve been building for months. This weekend, I attached a pane of plastic and all the brass hardware that I bought at an estate sale. I used my circular saw to fashion a stand out of a salvaged 4 x 4 post, and I finally conquered my irrational fear of setting a post in concrete. (It’s just so permanent. How is it that not everyone is afraid of that level of commitment?)

My family helped me wheel the structure, in a little red wagon, from the garage to the sidewalk. We hefted it onto the post, leveled it and screwed it in place, while my neighbor shot photographs. It was indeed a Kodak moment, and I am thrilled with the end result, which I hope will be a cheerful resource for my neighborhood of bibliophiles.

So why, when a classmate asked me about it today, did I lead with all the negatives?

“How is your porn library,” he asked. (My colleagues still threaten to stock the shelves with porn.)

“Great,” I said. “But the plastic door has some scratches, and there are some weird stains in the interior caulk, and I’m not sure it’s set at the perfect height, and honestly I didn’t like the way the concrete spread rather than curing in a perfect column. I really should’ve used a concrete form….”

Before I could get into second-guessing the overhang of the cedar shingles, he cut me off, which I’ve become accustomed to from my classmates, who all hate the way I overthink everything. But he surprised me with the empathy in what he said next:

“Whenever I make things, I find that I am my own harshest critic. Nobody else is going to notice what you just said.”

He’s right. He’s right. I know he’s right….

So, now that I’ve got my own harsh criticism out of the way, I am almost ready to debut the official Fox Family Little Free Library, though, to be precise, it is not official yet because I have not ordered the plaque from the Little Free Library Ltd. nonprofit organization.

The only thing left now is to test the waterproofness of the structure, which is standing proud in a driving rain as we speak, with a single volume by Erma Bombeck on the shelf as a guinea pig.

Assuming Erma passes the weather test, we will have an official stock-the-library launch party, which will involve cocktails and, if my classmates ever figure out my home address, maybe even some porn.