Free People's Liberation Library

Free People's Liberation Library This is a free roadside library, aimed at spreading books to people who need them. It's a community

The library door was unlatched this afternoon. When I checked the contents, the ransacker had been at work.One book had ...
18/07/2019

The library door was unlatched this afternoon. When I checked the contents, the ransacker had been at work.

One book had its cover bent in half. Another had its sticker ripped off. And most of the books were piled helter skelter over the bottom shelf.

Strangely, someone put an empty glass jar and lunchbox in the library. Maybe there was food in them? Maybe someone left something nice for a homeless person? Odd.

There are ten books left, from the original twenty a week or so ago. This is a good number. It means that the ransacker might indeed be discouraged by the stickers.

In the past, the presence of the ransacker resulted in all of the books being removed.

So... The presence of the torn off sticker indicates that my fierce wood glue wasn't fierce enough. To solve this, I'm going to try using contact adhesive. I'm also going to try wood glue again, but I'll lightly sandpaper the cover. I'll see what works.

I'm encouraged by what I'm seeing. I just wish humans were ethical enough to not ransack things that exist for the greater good.

If you're thinking of putting some books into this particular tiny library, here is the cover sticker.You'll need to use...
13/07/2019

If you're thinking of putting some books into this particular tiny library, here is the cover sticker.

You'll need to use a photocopier or laser printer, not an inkjet printer.

Use a good woodglue on the back of the notice, and be sure to spread the glue over the entire surface of the paper. If there are any gaps, the sheet will be vulnerable to being peeled off.

Paste it onto the outside front cover of the book. Don't be particularly neat about it. The idea is to turn this into a third repellant. So I figure neatness is psychologically wrong. (I might be wrong about this, though. So follow your gut.)

The library is located on the pavement on the north east corner of Goodman Terrace and Grove Road. (If you're travelling up Goodman Terrace, towards Bruma, with Orange Grove behind you, the box is on your left.)

Be aware that there are one or two people who have been raising the library everytime someone puts books unside. So don't be too attached to a positive outcome.

Whoever does the raiding seems not to be interested in magazines. They leave those behind. But they take EVERY book, leaving none behind. That's what makes me think they're just selling them.

But who knows? Maybe the stickers will make a difference?

My new tactic. I'm glueing a "do not buy this book!" sticker on the front cover of every book I put into the library.My ...
13/07/2019

My new tactic. I'm glueing a "do not buy this book!" sticker on the front cover of every book I put into the library.

My aim is to cut booksellers out of the theft loop that has taken hold in this library. No bookseller would put a book with this notice on their shelves. I'm using an extremely tenacious glue. To get this sticker off, the front cover will be irreparably damaged.

Of course, if the book thieves are stealing the books to sell as junk paper to the recyclers, this tactic probably won't work. The thieves will just tear the covers off, and sell them as usual.

I spent a half hour pasting the stickers onto 20 books. Let's see what happens next.

Yesterday, when I walked the doglets, I was disappointed to see that someone had left the door ajar.

The one piece of good news to report is that the door was latched closed this afternoon when I got to the library. This means that someone in the community noticed the latching mechanism, and took action to shut the door. This gives me a sliver of hope.

(And yes... There is tremendous intentional irony in my glueing this notice to the cover of Zuzak's THE BOOK THIEF.)

11/07/2019

I spent a bit of time with my thinking cap on this morning. Came up with a way to latch the door, so it can actually close properly.

The latch uses no fewer than THREE sets of locknuts, all in aid of keeping the k**b, the shaft, and the latch mechanism rigid in remain to reach other, while still able to rotate.

I'm feeling some forced optimism at the moment. I'm kinda hoping that the fact that the door closes might persuade people to respect the library more. I doubt it will. But I'm hoping.

07/06/2017

A dustbin man in Colombia has built a free library of more than 20,000 books rescued from rubbish.

30/11/2016

You’ve probably seen them—popping up in an unexplored neighborhood, embedded in a tree, peeking over a fence.

Someone has been feeding a steady stream of magazines into the library. So it's still alive! And yesterday, I found a Jo...
12/10/2016

Someone has been feeding a steady stream of magazines into the library.

So it's still alive!

And yesterday, I found a John Grisham novel inside!

Today, this kid ran up to the library just as I'd finished checking it, and she grabbed a comic book.

Her mom started shouting at her to put it back. So I went and explained that she could take whatever she wants, cos it's a library, and that she must bring it back when she's finished.

I'm not sure the message translated correctly. But hey. Baby steps.

The excitement of the little girl was really beautiful to witness.

I've been keeping a low profile with the library, since the second heist. Today, after a few days of me not visiting the...
03/10/2016

I've been keeping a low profile with the library, since the second heist.

Today, after a few days of me not visiting the thing, I found that some kind person has added about a hundred ARCHIE comics to the shelves.

Really cool!

Potentially restoring my faith in humanity.

(Now... Whoever took the giraffe statue three days after I placed it at the library... Please bring it back.)

Here is another tool in the fight against the books in the library being heisted...it's a rubber stamp design. I'll be p...
28/09/2016

Here is another tool in the fight against the books in the library being heisted...

it's a rubber stamp design. I'll be putting this onto two self-inking Trodat stamps, One stamp will stay with me. And the other will go to Pamela, who is one of the most awesome solicitors-of-book-donations to the library.

We'll be rubber stamping each book that goes into the library as many times as seems practical. On the inside front cover. On the title page. On the chapter headings. Anywhere a professional bookseller would look when examining a book brought in by a member of the public.

A friend of mine is a bookseller. He tells me that the bookselling fraternity would NEVER knowingly buy a stolen book.

That's why there's text addressed to the actual book retailer. It's clear that a book with this stamp in it is NOT FOR SALE.

Also, I've decided on an extra piece of skulduggery to protect these books and keep them with the community...

EVERY book that comes in will be put into a table vice, and a small cut with a hacksaw will be made about 2mm deep into the edge of the book.

This accomplishes several goals...

1. It makes the book unpurchasable by any dealer who wants to resell it.

2. It makes it very easy for me to do a visual examination of the books, without opening them, to see if any new books have entered the library. New books will be removed, and stamped, and cut, and put back on the shelves.

3. It sends a message to people "stealing" this community resource that there are better things to steal.

Of course... stamping and hacksawing are great IF my main assumption is correct. If the books are being taken in order for someone to get a few bucks from a second hand bookdealer, this will possibly end that.

But what if this is an act of sabotage? One of my neighbours has a camera pointing in the rough direction of the library. And he phoned me to say that he thinks he's seen the perpetrator. He believes it's a Rastaman, who is in the area quite a lot. (I have my doubts about this, cos the only Rasta guy I know in this area has actually been a key contributor to the library!) Anyway. The neighbour says he's spoken to CAP (a security company that patrols our neighbourhood), and they're now on the lookout.

The point I'm making is that stamps and hacksaw cuts are a great deterrent if reselling is the motive. But they're useless if someone is doing this maliciously... stealing the books, then throwing them away.

Let's see what happens.

PS: The size of the stamp will be around the same size as a business card... 75mm x 38mm.

Here's the giraffe guardian. (It's not valuable. Someone was chucking stuff out, and this was on a pile of roadside rubb...
28/09/2016

Here's the giraffe guardian. (It's not valuable. Someone was chucking stuff out, and this was on a pile of roadside rubble. So it's been repurposed.)

Is there a fine line between optimism and insanity? Or is there just insanity? Here's hoping that the addition of a guar...
28/09/2016

Is there a fine line between optimism and insanity? Or is there just insanity?

Here's hoping that the addition of a guardian giraffe statue and a notice filled with icons might make a difference.

Any ideas from the community? Yesterday afternoon, I went to the library to neaten it up. And found it bare yet again. I...
16/09/2016

Any ideas from the community?

Yesterday afternoon, I went to the library to neaten it up. And found it bare yet again.

It seems there is an individual who is waiting for the library to be restocked, and then stripping it. This person is obviously operating on the assumption that the library is a magical resource that will never dry out.

My initial response is anger. I just want to quit the library.

But that's not an answer. It's an actual resource to the neighbourhood. Just because one individual steals from it doesn't mean every individual feels the same.

So my second impulse is to solve the problem.

But the tricky part lies in working out what the problem actually is.

It's very easy to misidentify the problem.

So we have to ask the right questions.

The fundamental question is this... Why is this person stripping the library?

Many possible answers, all of which generate different strategies.

1. This person needs money, and is selling the books.

2. This person resents the library, and is sabotaging it, breaking it for the community.

3. This person needs books.

(Maybe there are more answers. Can you leave your thoughts on the comments?)

If it's about selling the books for money, maybe or strategy needs to be to make the books unsellable. Maybe food colouring on the edges. Maybe a rubber stamp saying, "DO NOT GIVE MONEY TO ANYONE FOR THIS BOOK. It belongs to a free community library. If you pay someone for this book, you are stealing from the community." Something like that. Stamped on every chapter header, so that the book becomes a monetary b***y trap.

If it's about vandalism, I'm a bit stumped.

If it's about someone needing books, I'm also a bit stumped.

One thought is that it might be a good idea to put a security camera on a neighbour's wall. That would help us identify the perpetrator. But then what? If I beat the perpetrator to a pulp, then I'm just a common criminal. If I reason with the perpetrator, why would they even be open to reason? And isn't a camera on the library a violation of the idea of trusting the community?

Any ideas?

Any thoughts on what good questions we should be asking in order to solve this?

Address

Corner Goodman Terrace & Grove Road, Fairwood
Johannesburg
2192

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