{"id":527,"date":"2021-04-21T09:06:22","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T23:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/?p=527"},"modified":"2024-04-02T12:41:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T02:41:44","slug":"making-your-own-street-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/making-your-own-street-library\/","title":{"rendered":"Making your own street library"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Second-hand books are wild books, homeless books; they have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather, and have a charm which the domesticated volumes of the library lack.
<\/p>Virginia Woolf<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Street libraries bring the joy of reading to everyone. The way they work is simple. You can take a book (or magazine) or several for free, with no registration required. There are no due dates either \u2014 whenever you\u2019re done, return the item for others to enjoy.
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If you don\u2019t have a street library where you live, why not make one? They are easy to set up and will bring a stronger sense of community to where you live, share resources and encourage a love of reading.
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Building and decorating
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You don\u2019t have to be a DIY wiz to make a functional street library. There are lots of design guides online, or you can keep it really simple and just utilise a box with a lid (make sure it is waterproof though to protect the books).
Streetlibrary.org.au<\/a> sells pre-made library boxes that you can personalise through painting and decorating. You may like to display your street name or suburb on it, or incorporate images that are meaningful to the area you live in.
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It\u2019s a good idea to secure your street library to your property so that the entire thing doesn\u2019t get \u201cborrowed\u201d! You can nail it onto a post in your front yard or your fence \u2014 this will also prevent it from toppling over.
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Establishing your collection
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Think about who is likely to use your street library. If there are lots of families with young kids nearby, stock up on children\u2019s books. More of an older demographic? Think of books that may appeal to the nearby residents.
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You don\u2019t need to spend much, or even any, money in building your second hand book collection. Ask around to see if your family and friends have books they can part with, and check out your local op-shop for some cheap reads to offer. It\u2019s a great idea to stock magazines too, so why not start things off with this very copy of Being once you\u2019ve finished with it?
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Promoting your library
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Once you\u2019ve set up your street library, foot traffic will provide your first borrowers, but you can spread the word more widely too. Drop off flyers in your neighbourhood announcing the arrival of the street library, and if your area has a Facebook group page, post on there as well.
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Some people might not understand how these libraries function, so it\u2019s a good idea to have a sign fixed to the box explaining that passers-by can take and drop off books. Some may need to be assured that there is no \u201ccatch\u201d \u2014 no money is exchanged, no details collected.
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A symbol of trust and hope
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The Street Library website refers to street libraries as \u201ca symbol of trust and hope\u201d. When you offer up items for free, you are providing something to people \u2014 and in the case of books and magazines, they can give us inspiration, connection, understanding, entertainment.
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These libraries are built on trust, and while it\u2019s good practice to return the reading materials or donate some others, this isn\u2019t a requirement. People can take as they need. Yet you\u2019re likely to see your little library grow and blossom, as it becomes a utilised and appreciated resource for your community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to learn about being inspired? Visit our inspired archive.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You don\u2019t need to go far or spend money to enjoy a good book. Street libraries bring the sharing of resources to our communities, and an offering of trust and hope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":1119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[51],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1120,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527\/revisions\/1120"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellbeing.com.au\/being\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}