A Somerset West couple has started a street library outside their home to encourage reading during the lockdown.
They took books and DVDs from their garage and put them on the pavement and people can now take out a book or movie without signing for it.
Carolyn Cramer, who is a mother of three kids, says they trust people to bring back the material so that others can also have a chance to benefit from it.
She tells the Daily Voice they have many books that they’ll probably never read again.
GREAT INITIATIVE: Mom Carolyn Cramer
“We had a lot of books in our garage and they are great books,” says Carolyn.
“We are not going to read them again and then I just realised there are so many people who are probably desperate for books with the libraries closed (due to the Coronavirus lockdown).”
With the assistance of her husband and three children, the family put the books outside on the street with instructions that people can take books and return them after reading.
Signs written in chalk written on the pavement lead you to the library, and there is even sanitiser for people’s hands.
Signs written in chalk written on the pavement lead you to the library. Picture: Velani Ludidi
Carolyn says the Lazee Library (Land en Zeezicht Library) works on a basis of honesty as there is no one monitoring who takes what and returns in.
“There is a chance that people will not return them but it does not matter,” she says.
“People have been so excited about this and I was watching people from my lounge walking past and returning back here because you cannot resist a book.”
Her husband Stefan says the initiative is creating two things: “One is a sense of community even while there is physical isolation.
“The second is generosity, whether people read the books and bring them back or keep them, I do not care, at the end of the day people are encouraged (to read) by this.”
KNOWLEDGE: The Lazee Library in Somerset West is equipped with sanitiser and pops up thrice a week. Video Velani Ludidi
After posting the street library on social media, people were so moved by the idea that they’ve started bringing their own books and DVDs for the public,” says Carolyn.
“You cannot physically travel now, but if you read a book you can go anywhere in the world.
“You can have an adventure!
“I know there are old people around here as well who will benefit from this.”
She says the pop-up library will appear thrice a week and the books are taken back into the garage in the evening to prevent theft and weather damage.