Modern mobile communications have supplanted the old pay phones placed in street booths. But in England they are not thrown away as unnecessary junk. British Telecom, the British telecommunications operator, sells such booths to anyone who wants them. And it is up to the imagination of the buyer to become a booth in its “new life”.
Some make them into storage rooms or showers. And the residents of the tiny English town of Westbury-sub-Mandip turned a red phone booth into a library. After buying it for a symbolic pound, they shelved it, lit it up and stored about a hundred books and DVDs in the new library.
Reading enthusiasts can use the library’s outdoor services 24 hours a day, all calendar year long. Night reading is facilitated by lighting inside. There are classics, modern literature, cookbooks and magazines.
The library works without a librarian. The inhabitants of the city, of which there are only 800 people, faithfully serve themselves. They periodically replenish the shelves with new books. Taking one of the books home, be sure to bring it back. The townspeople have grown fond of their library. Sometimes you have to stand in line to get a good book to take home to read.
Not a bad idea! Isn’t it?
