Britain: Free books for commuters
鈥� A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.
LONDON 鈥� Snatching one of the free evening newspapers dished out on the streets here is almost second nature to most folks returning home from work. But now London鈥檚 army of 鈥渇ree sheet鈥� pushers has some competition: a group of volunteer 鈥渓ibrarians鈥� who hand out free books in a bid to improve commuters鈥� reading habits.
The initiative was born of the frustration that friends Alfie Boyd and Claire Wilson felt at sitting in subway cars where virtually every passenger seemed to have his or her nose in one of two free newspapers that offer a diet of news and gossip.
鈥淲e realized we had to come up with an alternative,鈥� says Mr. Boyd, co-founder of , which encourages donations of everything from classics to cookbooks. They are offered once a month outside Waterloo station, a major commuter terminal, and four others.
鈥淚t always starts with one or two curious people peeling off from the passing crowds,鈥� Boyd says. 鈥淭hen you get everyone just rummaging around in our boxes. Strangers are suddenly talking to each other about the books they love. It breaks them out of the rat race.鈥�
Readers are encouraged to return books at a drop box when they鈥檙e done, though Boyd and Ms. Wilson fret little about this.
鈥淔rom the beginning we made an agreement that if we even got 2 percent back, then that would be great 鈥� though it鈥檚 much higher,鈥� Boyd says. 鈥淣o one throws a book away. This is about getting people reading something other than what鈥檚 shoved at them. People are always going to donate. We all want others to read the books we liked.鈥�
