Dear LPG,

You might remember an article written by BI just over 3 years ago now (►►►) which introduced us to an organisation called Little free library.  At the time LPG did a little research and contacted the owner of one of those book cases.

Recently one of our staff managed to phone them again quite by accident but, having done so, and being a natural reporter we asked for an update.

After the ‘Sorry wrong number’ conversation we learned that our librarian and family move to the Kent coast not long after we were in contact, but the people who bought their house continue to keep an eye on the mini library that they originally set up on their fence in Hither Green.  In addition, a new street library is now well established on their Kent coast fence.  It had functioned perfectly until Covid-19 became the prompt for the lending and borrowing of more than books.

As the pandemic started to hit, they decided to reserve a shelf in their cupboard with another commodity designed to help their community to share.  They added a couple of food items with very positive results. 

Now that things are moving and people are beginning to venture beyond their front doors again, the top shelf of the library has become a place for the storage of tinned foods which are being deposited and taken with as much enthusiasm as the books.

Our librarian added, ‘All we need to do now is observe really, and the regular deposits and withdraws of both commodities’ as they come and go are very noticeable.    The main contents left on the food shelf consists of tins of beans, meatballs and other mini but relatively substantial meals. 

They told us that they just followed the lead of local restaurants who, when the situation was at its worst, were using food items donated from supermarkets because it was near its sell-by date, to make meals for those who were finding things financially difficult. 

So it turns out that while Coronavirus has brought us much heartache and tribulation, it is so encouraging to see the movement of both food and books.  So this little library is now offering food for both the mind and body.

LPG suggests reading BI’s article if you feel that becoming the custodian of a ‘little free library’ interests you…

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