Novel ideas

I have always been captivated by the little book swaps that popped up around Stratford and Walthamstow in recent years, and when I moved into a quiet street in Tottenham Hale I jumped at the opportunity to build my own. I felt powerless in the face of huge challenges like climate change and the cost of living crisis, but the book swap was something fun and useful that I could make a positive impact with.

I’m not a carpenter or a builder, but I had a clear idea of what I wanted–a place for people on my street to share books. It didn’t need to be fancy, it just needed to be a container that kept the rain off and the books safe.

I wanted to minimise my environmental impact by using recycled materials wherever possible, and a shabby wooden cabinet that someone had abandoned by the side of the road was exactly what I needed. I took it home to give it a new life as a community book swap.

There was a drawer in the top of the cabinet that I didn’t want to use, so I removed the handle, glued and nailed it shut, and painted the word ‘BOOKS’ in big letters over it. There was no going back now!

The biggest challenge was figuring out how to weatherproof it. It had a flat top, so any rain would just soak through, warping the wood and damaging the books inside. I enlisted the help of my partner’s father, who had a shed full of wooden offcuts and some old roofing material. I fixed some angled wood to the flat top and covered it in waterproof rubber – “that should let the rainwater run off nicely,” I thought.

With the drawer secured and the roof attached, it was time to et it out into the street. A neighbour suggested inviting residents to help decorate it, so I sent out a message in the local WhatsApp group with a date for people to come and launch it. I picked up some outdoors wood paint, stencils and brushes, and sat by the road, encouraging passers-by to make their mark. Plenty of people stopped to say hello, chat, and add a splash of paint. By the end of the day the cupboard had transformed from a shabby, abandoned box to a brightly coloured book swap.

I propped the cupboard on some bricks to keep it dry, added some books to kick things off, and left it on a patch of grass beside the road for people to use. Just a couple of days later I was thrilled to see someone perusing the books, taking one to read and leaving another in its place. Today there are new books appearing all the time. From sci-f i novels to autobiographies and children’s stories; it’s become the go-to place for local people to share their favourite reads.

There’s something magical about seeing people get so much use and joy out of this little cupboard by the side of the road. Sharing stories has brought me closer to the community, and if it has inspired even just one person to give something back in a similar way then I’ll consider that mission accomplished.