Where book lovers congregate

Little Free Libraries are blossoming much to residents' delight

May 04, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 07:40 am IST - CHENNAI:

Reading, together:Shannon Zirkle began the first such initiative in Egmore last year —Photo: R. Ragu

Reading, together:Shannon Zirkle began the first such initiative in Egmore last year —Photo: R. Ragu

Thanks to the Little Free Library (LFL) initiative that is blossoming in Chennai, many neighbourhoods across the city have turned into safe havens for bookworms.

The concept, which originated in the U.S., is rather simple: A book lover puts a box, shelf or crate of books in their front yard and neighbours browse, maybe borrow one and return later with a replacement. The first Little Free Library came up at Chesney Lane community in Egmore in August last year.

Shannon Zirkle, a photographer who initiated the venture, says, “When I moved to the city, I found that there were not too many libraries I could easily access. Also, I had many books that I wanted to give away and thought this would be the most productive way to do so.”

The project runs on an honour system, where people borrow books to return the same or add another to replenish the stock. The concept that is aimed at encouraging the habit of reading has captured the imagination of the city with libraries mushrooming in Alwarpet, Chetpet , Nungambakkam, Mylapore and R.A Puram to name a few.

Ashok L.R, an enthusiastic patron, says, “It is a fantastic idea which has been adopted first by Chennai in all of India. Often, I have noticed that when I buy books, I do not end up reading then for a long while. Borrowing a book compels you to read it immediately. More importantly, with this concept, you are introduced to new authors, with books being in constant circulation.”

The books stocked range from children’s books and novels to even text books. There has also been a concerted effort to include books in Tamil in order to make it more inclusive.

For the past two months, V. Balakrishnan, deputy commissioner of police, Mylapore, has been running one such library in his office space.

He says, “Many people come here and have to wait for quite a while before they can meet us. Now, they can read while they wait and also gather information since we have books on self-help and legal aid.” He adds that this is also an attempt to change the perception of police stations and offices as being hostile spaces.

The response has been overwhelming and there are plans of setting up such reading corners in 18 other stations, including police boys and girl clubs, Mr. Balakrishnan says.

For more information on LFL, visithttp://

www.littlefreelibrary.org/or join the Facebook group Little Free Library of Chennai.

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