“That phone box could be seen to undermine what proper librarians provide. “There is a problem with what I’ve done,” he says, self-effacing once more. ![]() In the face of bruising local authority cutbacks, we wonder whether this is the future? “And it’s just closer and easier than the main library,” Helen points out. In a bid to de-clutter their homes, they like to donate unwanted books. Lewisham locals Helen and Michele show up to peruse the shelves. And on the few occasions it has been vandalised, people have rallied round to fix it up.” Having a browse. “But I think people have come to realise that nobody’s doing this for themselves. “I though, uh-oh, what have I got myself into?” he reminisces. Seb recalls leaving a couple of planks of wood unattended while working on the booth. You suspect that if an idea like this could work here, it could work anywhere.įor the micro library operates on a system of trust. There was something very ‘Big Society’ about the whole idea.īut while a quirky but unpoliced book exchange was always likely to succeed in Britain’s rural parishes which have a traditional sense of togetherness, big bad London poses a different challenge. It got a bit much after a while." He was even commended by the Prime Minister. "I’ve been interviewed by newspapers in Japan, Mexico," he recalls. ![]() ![]() In much the same way that the Micro Library quickly attracted intrigue beyond its immediate locality, Seb himself achieved a degree of reluctant mini-celebrity. It’s odd really: all I did was respond to an ad and put up eight shelves." Seb Handley with his handiwork. And it wasn’t even my idea for Lewisham - it’s others in the Brockley Society who deserve the credit for that. "My mum’s got one in her village in Wiltshire. From Somerset to Derbyshire, it seems that telephone kiosks have been turning into libraries since at least 2009. According to one estimate, it might not even have been the 150th. Lewisham’s micro library wasn’t the first. "Don’t get me started on libraries these days, and all that distracting stuff they have to offer as ‘civic spaces’", he explains. He just craves the simplicity of an old-fashioned lending service. We wonder who’ll be the first to snap up Alan Young’s Modern Sea Angling, or the AQA Mathematics Syllabus A Pure 1?Ī man named Rob emerges with a quiz book on Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. As well as the Ruth Rendells and Jeffery Deavers, there’s a lot of the weird and wonderful in stock today. It's rush hour, and as buses and bikers bomb up and down Loampit Hill, people pop in and out of the little library for a flick through some of the volumes on offer. The micro library's motto, emblazoned on the ceiling. He spent a further £500 and several Saturday afternoons gutting the thing, before transforming it into the venerable, if petite, beacon of learning you now see today. "It’s definitely given people an excuse to stand around chatting," reflects Seb Handley, "and in that sense, I suppose it’s really failed as a library." Seb is the man who bought this particular George Gilbert Scott-designed model from BT for a nominal £1. Anyone is free to take home a book, provided they bring it back or replace it with another. ![]() It's amazing.With no registration, and no fines, it’s a casual walk-in-and-browse setup. Library user Mark Brown, who visited the library three to four times per week, told MyLondon: "When you walk past and see new books, especially when I see my topics sitting there, I get excited and go straight inside. In 2019, its users even started a book club, discussing books from the box at the local pub. Reflecting the interests of the local community, the phone box houses an eclectic mix of books: vintage classics, children's literature, Teach Yourself Turkish. It even has its own Facebook page, with almost 2000 followers. The tiny library opened in 2013, is listed on Google Maps, and has quickly become a source of local pride. READ MORE: London's most-fined library books, from the Highway Code to physics textbooks As its organisers put it: "It's not what you get, it's what you leave behind." This is Lewisham's Micro Library, which is open 24 hours a day and is free to use.Īlthough users are encouraged to bring back their books, or replace them with others. This is no ordinary telephone box - and you won't find a phone inside. It's nestled under an overhanging tree, next to a pedestrian crossing. There is a red telephone box on Loampit Hill, Lewisham, on the corner of Tyrwhitt Road.
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