In Germany, there was a trend of setting up public bookcases in town squares where passers-by could drop off or take books. But as things go, after a while, they slowly started to go out of fashion. Since then, kebab shops and barbershops have become a more common sight in the cityscape (Stadtbild).
They are still common and popular in many places and I have found cool stuff there often.
I also regularly visit the 3-4 that are within 10 minutes walking distance from my place. It's fun to see that they have slowly become more "specialized"; for example, English books typically appear in only one of them.
In the US they're often called "Little Free Libraries" and you can join groups around them: https://littlefreelibrary.org
They didn’t go out of fashion. It’s just that some people emptied them to sell the books on flea markets, sometimes drunk people used those for their “business”; and sometimes, kids set them on fire. And this was just in a rather small town.