Recycler helps himself with pavement library books
CRAIGHALL PARK – An informal recycler leaves an initiated community library with no books, for personal gain.
Knowledge is powerful and transmitted mainly through reading; it is one thing no one can ever take away from anyone.
Not only do people need books to help them to discover new things, they also serve another important role: passing down and upholding the many different languages in our country.
Liz Delmont, the founder of Liz at Lancaster Guesthouse started a community library outside her guesthouse. On 28 March, an informal recycler loaded an entire box of useful books into his recycling trolley.
“The library is for people to take a book and return a book. It has worked wonderfully until on that particular day,” said Delmont.
Established in December 2017, Delmont said she wept at the thought of wonderful books simply going to recycling.
“I would like to think about the code of ethics around the community library, rather than treating it as a criminal act of outright theft for personal gain,” she said. “I am not passionate about books being in pristine condition as a well-thumbed book is a treasure, carrying visual and tactile traces of its readers and its history.”
Luckily, the library has restocked as some of the community members assisted by donating more books, and some of them are brand-new.
“A community member dropped a whole lot of kids’ books off some time ago and I’d kept them in stock, plus I raided my in-house guest library as well as my own shelves.”
The founder has put up signs that the books are for worthwhile reading and said she also needed to use indigenous languages to convey a clear message to the recyclers because they are also trying to make a living.
“Many of the recyclers are from neighbouring countries and might well be functionally illiterate and also not be proficient in English. Going forward, I might need to put signs up in other languages.”
Delmont also has a better plan for those who might not be able to read and understand the board written in English. She suggested that someone from the community – such as builders or helpers – stand at the library and raise awareness about the purpose of the pavement library.
Do you think you can donate more books to the library? Let us know on @RK_Gazette.
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