Street Libraries

As an avid reader and a keen promoter of literacy, I really wanted to have my own street library. After waiting 18 months for it to materialise from the collection of wood we have in our garage, I finally got a street library kit for my birthday and it was the best present ever! My husband put it together for me and painted it with a base colour using exterior paint. I then asked a dear and very talented friend to decorate it. It has beautiful eucalypt leaves, flowers and gumnuts painted on its roof and down the sides and is a real work of art.

According to Street Libraries Australia, the concept of a street library was created to encourage literacy, encourage community and to register street libraries all around the country. They are a way in which books can be recycled and shared, without the need to check them in or out. They promote literacy and the joy of reading.

We added a small shelf to the top of our street library to enable us to house both children’s books and books for adults. It is a great joy to hear parents with their children stopping by to pick out a book.

I hope that in some small way my little house of books brings pleasure to passers by and fosters the love of literacy.