by Judith Randall

Still in the mood for a good beach read, albeit from the comfort of your couch?

Haven’t gotten around to reading best-sellers that generated lots of buzz, like “Educated” or “Fleishman is in Trouble”?

Then check out “The Little Free Library” in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, where new releases and old favorites are offered to the community for free by your well-read neighbors.

The cherry red book share box, installed last summer by the Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, through a grant from the Turtle Bay Association, is located at the entrance to the Katharine Hepburn Garden near First Avenue at East 47th Street.

“We wanted to make the cobblestone platform more inviting and draw visitors to the entrance of the garden, explained Anne Saxon-Hersh, Director of Development for the Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza. “The Little Free Library” is self-sustaining and makes the park more user-friendly in a neighborly way.”

Founded in 2009 and based in Wisconsin, “The Little Free Library” is a non-profit organization that promotes reading through neighborhood book exchanges in 90,000 outposts around the U.S. and in more than 90 countries.

In addition to best-sellers, recent books up for grabs in the book box in Dag Plaza included a Frommer’s Japan travel guide, a couple of Hemingway classics and a book on Charles de Gaulle.

The book sharing box proved popular from the start and the books are always changing,” said Ms. Saxon-Hersh.

It’s a great way to recycle books from your personal library to benefit others —and snag a book you’ve been dying to read for free.