THE WORLD’S SMALLEST LIBRARIES

Traditional red telephone boxes are disappearing from British streets,
because mobile phones are now widely used to make calls outside the home.
But many communities want to keep their telephone boxes – these are mostly owned by BT,
a telecommunications company. Now, in response to public demand,
BT has launched a scheme called ‘Adopt a kiosk’.

For as little as £1, telephone kiosks are adopted and turned into something else,
for example, art galleries, information centres and, most popular of all, mini libraries.
Telephone box libraries have now appeared in towns and villages all over Britain.

    Shelves are built in the telephone box, and books are donated by locals.
The libraries are operated as book exchanges, which means readers can come and take a book any time they like,
but they must replace or return books they take. Some kiosks are locked at night;
others are open round the clock. All kinds of books appear on the shelves, from detective stories and biographies,
to cookery books and Harry Potter novels.

    ‘Everyone stops to chat around the phone box,’ says Claire from Essex. ‘It’s really brought the community together.’

    ‘Our nearest public library is several kilometres away, so it’s great to have this facility in our village,’
adds her partner, Steve. ‘I can read e-books on my tablet, but I’d far rather turn the pages of a real book!’