A few weeks ago, people walking on New Beach Road came across a colourful box with an unexpected invitation.
The wooden box with a glass door had a painted message: Free Library. Take a Book, Leave a Book. The box is outside Karthika Gopalakrishnan’s house, an ardent book lover. The idea came about when she read about the concept in Guardian Witness and decided to start it here. Little Free Library is a very popular concept abroad. It was started by Todd Boll five years ago, as a tribute to his mother, who was a teacher and loved reading.
He created a small wooden box and wrote: ‘Free Books’ and that’s how the idea for a book-sharing movement came about.
“I already knew about the concept but after reading about it, we decided to start our own. We started with hunting for a suitable box and posted our requirements on sites and Facebook pages that are known for buys and selling second-hand products. We found the perfect cupboard there, sold by a man who used it to store CDs. We picked it up, painted and placed it outside our house. At first, we placed it closer to the wall and people thought it was private property. The next day, we brought it closer to the road and people started noticing,” she says.
For two months now, every weekend the little free library has its fair share of regulars. “We have a good collection ranging from Tinkle, Chacha Chowdhry to Anita Desai and R.K. Narayan. It is nice to see that people don’t just take but also keep back the books. We have people who come back regularly. We have had good feedbacks too,” says Karthika.
Karthika says once the concept becomes more popular, she will keep the library open throughout the week and not just on weekends.
