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Thursday 25 April 2013

Another free library idea - at a bus stop

A friend posted this pic on Facebook for me the other day, and it reminded me of the free tiny libraries I posted about a few months ago. It makes me wonder just how many freely available bookshelves there might be scattered around the world, where they are, and who is accessing them. At work - St James' Anglican Church in King Street, Sydney - there is a bookcase in the crypt (no dead bodies down there, it's all very cool funky spaces that are used for all sorts of things, including the parish library) for the express use of the neighbourhood's homeless people, who are also catered for with a lunch on Sundays by a team of volunteers from the parish.

So, if you have pics, or know of free 'libraries' like these let me know and I'll post them here - it would be great to see where they are.
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4 comments:

  1. Jack Tyler25 April 2013 at 21:26

    The only place I have personally encountered a free library, oddly enough, is in our local courthouse. We get summoned for jury duty here, and while we're waiting to be called for a case, there are shelves and shelves of books in the jury lounge, and the announcement is made that if you get interested in a book, then get called to a case, take it home with you, no charge. They're all donated, and I picked up Tony Hillerman's The Sinister Pig last time I was hauled in.

    A good idea we see far too infrequently here.

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    1. Kaz26 April 2013 at 17:42

      That is very cool Jack - I love that people can take the books home. I assume people donate too to keep it going. Not so hard to maintain a free library, when you think about it...

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  2. Sharon26 April 2013 at 02:57

    Love the photo and love the idea of library in the church crypt. I have a real thing for church crypts and yet I know of no church anywhere near where I live that has one. I don't mind the graves when a church has a crypt, a friend can't understand my fondness for crypts she finds them creepy and unsettling I find them rather serene spaces that wrap around you. St Martins in the Fields in the middle of London has a rather cool café in their crypt, a nice calm space to escape into for a cuppa or a quick meal and all the funds go towards the church's homeless programs.

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    1. Kaz26 April 2013 at 17:45

      The St James' crypt has never been used for burials, oddly enough. There is now a columbarium in one of the alcoves for the interment of ashes for those who chose cremation, but that's as close at the crypt has got to its original intended purpose. If you ever get to South Australia, and the Clare Valley - given you like crypts - try to visit Seven Hills Winery. It is a monastery winery that, to this day, supplies many of the country's Catholic parishes with their communion wine, and makes many excellent other wines! The crypt in their church has been the burial site for the monks over the years and is an oddly peaceful place and not at all creepy!

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