By Gabriella Payne
There’s a new trend hitting the streets of Lang Lang that’s bringing a smile to local bookworms young and old – a tiny little street library!
Local resident Wendy Ranke said she was inspired to create her own street library after hearing about the idea through the grapevine and seeing a colleague had started her own.
“I had known about street libraries and I really liked them and I was working with a fellow admin who has her own one out in Grantville and I said, ‘oh I want to do one’ and so she said ‘ well, why don’t you?’,” Ms Ranke explained.
After contacting her retired carpenter friend Albert with some photos and the idea, Ms Ranke’s street library started coming together and it was during the last lockdown in February that the painting, decorating and registration was finalised.
“Then suddenly this lockdown happened [fourth lockdown], so I thought now is the perfect time for me to post my finished library on Lang Lang’s noticeboard and just encourage people to come out, have a walk and see what’s happening with my library,” she said.
“I didn’t realise it would be so popular!”
Ms Ranke said that since posting on the Lang Lang noticeboard group on Facebook, she has had many people stop by to exchange and borrow a book, and she hopes to see the library get even more use in the future.
“It’s good to see that a young girl came with her mum and exchanged some books, and it’s been really heartening to see,” Ms Ranke said.
“It’s a bit jam packed at the moment so I’ll have to make sure that it doesn’t get too overcrowded!”
Although the idea behind the street library is to exchange a book when you visit, Ms Ranke welcomed people to simply come and take a book, read it and tell their friends, as she hopes to see a “little group of street libraries” pop up in Lang Lang eventually.
“You can take a book from one and leave it at another or change it over with a book from home, so it’s more of a book sharing hub than a traditional library,” she said.
“It’s a way to connect with the community as well.
We’re so isolated when we’re home, and it’s a good excuse [to get out and about…] even though I don’t see the people who come to my library generally, I’ll go have a look and go ‘oh, there’s a new book there now’, so it’s very rewarding to see.
I think it would be great if we could have a community of street libraries and kids could find a book and really get engaged with reading and community at the same time,” Ms Ranke said.
So if you’re wandering the streets of Lang Lang, make sure to keep an eye out for the colourful little library outside Ms Ranke’s home – or why not try making your own to share with your community?
