Evan’s Garden Library

We started with a crazy idea of a pallet garden for our front yard (mainly because we hated mowing the grass) ; our business was a little slow when Covid19 restrictions hit in March 2020 and so we started to build in our spare time and while being out there everyday we started to connect with the beautiful people of our community. Everyday they would walk past & comment on our progress. During this time my son had to start schooling from home as he was identified as being of at ‘high risk’ due to asthma. To occupy his long days at home we gave him little activities to keep him happy & busy (while maintaining social distancing); chalk art on the pavement, inspirational quotes for the walkers passing by, art in our windows. One day we had a declutter of his books & we decided to offer them to our community in the form of a street library (just a small bookshelf which we took out each day when weather permitted). We wanted to ensure people’s safety so we provided alcohol wipes for cleaning & advised social distancing. From there the street library & pallet garden has take on a life of its own; donations kept getting dropped at our door; books, plants, seeds, soil, fertilizers, chalk, cuttings, homegrown fruit, beautiful notes were left for my son from other children in the community & little anonymous gifts & cards from the people walking by.
In a time of uncertainty, worry & turmoil this little project brought our community together. In early June we decided to make the street library a permanent feature & asked for the community’s help to source a permanent structure. We got a cabinet donated & then doors, then a multitude of amazing books & DVDs to fill our shelves. On the 13th June 2020 we unveiled our new & improved permanent, weatherproof street library!
Most recently we’ve added in a community pantry for swapping, sharing & donating non-perishable & homegrown food; we’re hoping for good things to come from this latest project.
Come & pay us a visit.
Take what you need. Leave what you can. Above all else: Be blessed!
Follow us on Instagram @ evans_garden_library
Evan’s Garden Library
331 Glenwood Park Dr, Glenwood NSW.