Inspired by the street library of an aquaintance, I read up about the movement and excitedly ordered my own kit, to host a dedicated Paris End Street Library for both the neighbours and the foot and wheelchair traffic that frequently pass our house.
Once installed, I nominated my daughter as the library collection curator, to decide which of our books to include in the library and to monitor the collection comings and goings. To improve turnover we decided to replace books that hadn’t been borrowed within a week.
Currently the weekly cull only applies to our own books but as more contributions come from others we may include them in the churn as well. Terms and conditions to this effect would be posted in the library in advance.
Many of the locals are mature book lovers with novels and non-fiction to recycle, so I anticipate that maintaining adult content won’t be a problem, but it would be great to be able to provide books for younger people too.
Books were my best friends and biggest teachers when I was a child and I would love to facilitate that opportunity for the local children. A street library that serves both young and old will require some moderating though. Suggestions are welcome as to how to best manage that.
Recently we have had our library emptied twice, a risk that most street libraries confront. I featured a sign reminding “the passionate book lover…that other members of our community like to use the library too” in the library window for a couple of days before I removed it and reinstated the collection at half capacity.
If the street library stays empty or the content is stolen, the outcome’s the same. Only by topping up the collection and encouraging contributions (I’m doing this by word of mouth) can we hope to continue The Paris End Street Library .
