Friday 8 June 2018

Clearing my Shelves

Angi and me with the new
Woodside Park Community Book Swap.
I have been decluttering. Clothes, ornaments, cooking gadgets I've barely used, CDs and DVDs and, alas, books.

Books are the hardest to part with but it has to be done. I had thousands. I've always had an ongoing book clear as my flat isn't huge but this has been by far the biggest cull. Lots of my old text books have been sold and local charity shops have done very well out of my donations. Some have gone to family and friends and now some, I'm pleased to say, along with one of my bookcases are a community book swap at Woodside Park, my local underground station, which I set up with the help of another local resident, Angi.

Within a couple of minutes of putting the books on the shelves we had our first browser, who thanked us and said he had long wished there was such a facility here. The first book he selected was a copy of a Greenacre Writers anthology! He borrowed three books and said he'd return or swap them in due course!

This latest addition joins dozens of other little book swaps on the Transport for London network, including Bounds Green, High Barnet, and East Finchley.

Those of you who use Woodside Park station, please do bring and borrow books to keep it going. The bookcase is in the main foyer so you don't even need your Oyster card!


7 comments:

Rosie Longstocking said...

Wonderful. I'll think of you when a borrow, return and donate. #BookLove

Patsy said...

That's a lovely idea, as long as it doesn't stop people using their local libraries and putting those at risk. Hopefully it will do the opposite and interest people who wouldn't usually borrow books and then get them looking for a bigger selection.

If you don't have one, maybe put up a sign saying 'lots more books can be borrowed for free at the library' and give the address?

Lindsay said...

That's a very good idea, Patsy. We could easily do that. Sadly the libraries in our area have already been decimated and the stock much depleted and easy access restricted.

Wendy's Writing said...

What a fantastic initiative, Lindsay. Sadly, I will never be able to see it as the though of an underground station makes me shudder!

Lindsay said...

This one isn't underground, Wendy, so if you are ever in North Finchley, you could pop in to visit it without any shudders, and you don't even need a ticket! No excuse now!

Jenny Woolf said...

What a great idea- setting up a book swap. Our community centre has one to raise funds for the centre. I don't know how much it makes but I love to go there and browse and also donate my unwanted books.

Maria said...

What a fab idea to have a book swap in your local underground station.
I'm also decluttering although it's a slow slow process here. I keep going and have done half of my books.