What drew you to the Street Library idea?
Nic Lowe (one of the GoGet founders, and the driving force behind the Street Library movement) suggested that Ken act as a mentor at the first Street Library Maker Day. Ken has a reputation for designing and building things, and very importantly, ensured that everyone went home with all of their fingers and toes attached. “There would be people coming along who might not know how to use a table saw, and Nic thought it was important to have an expert on hand,” Ken said.
For Lisa, an acclaimed artist, the attraction was more about the content rather than the box. “The idea of the Street Library really appealed to me, the idea of making books more accessible, particularly to young people. With the demise of many spaces in institutions now for books, and the fact that many books are now electronic, a lot of books are turned into landfill. And yet we value books, but we just don’t have the infrastructure, apart from mainstream libraries, to have them more in our lives.”
Why do you think a workshop is important?
Lisa: “When I started painting the streaks of white on my Street Library, that inspired a group of girls over in another corner to give that a go, which they did, in their own way. And conversely, there was a woman who brought in a stencil set, and was using that to decorate her library. I didn’t get around to doing that until today. We really did create a community with diverse skills and interests and talents, and it was a fantastic experience to be part of that, and see things evolving that otherwise wouldn’t have happened.”
Ken: “I think it’s also important for people who maybe haven’t had an opportunity to do work like this – creating something out of wood – when they wouldn’t normally have access to these tools. If there’s only one mentor, then they’re only seeing one way of doing things. But in a workshop, you see that there are many ways of designing the libraries, and solving problems such as how to make it weatherproof, how to get the door to latch, etc.”
Have you seen any interactions between the neighbours over the books?
Ken: “I was up a ladder recently and a family came past with a couple of little kids. They saw the sign (Street Library. Take a book. Give a book. Whatever. Enjoy.) and the older one said, ‘This means that you can swap stuff’. So they were exploring it on their own level.”
Lisa: “Having a Street Library outside your house is like having a sign that you are connected to something and the more there are around the place the more connected we all feel. I’m hopeful that there might even be a social dimension to it. There might be literary walks, a weekend trail, perhaps with cups of tea along the way. Or maybe we could even use the libraries as a basis for a book club. These are little treasures and people will discover them.”
