“Take a book, leave a book”: when the distributed library is a success

DIFFUSED LIBRARY –

Reading is an increasingly disused practice. Data reveals that the vast majority of Italians don't even read one book a year. Yet some virtuous pockets of resistance exist . These small exceptions not only promote reading but also foster neighborhood collaboration, establishing virtuous circles to be proud of . This initiative, with the slogan " Take a book, leave a book, " has allowed a family living in the Modena area to create a truly distributed library.

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THE OWL LIBRARY –

The idea came to Elena Barbieri and Luca Neri, who, almost for fun, hung a box outside their garden in 2013 where people could take and donate books, completely free of charge . Like many positive experiences, this one also arose from a difficult time. A few years ago, the two parents discovered that their son Federico was suffering from leukemia and would be forced to withdraw into his home in the coming months. So, to create a diversion, Elena and Luca decided to build a small wooden house with a few books. Federico contributed to the construction by painting the small library red. And in the months that followed, whenever any well-intentioned person approached, curious, it was the boy himself who explained how the exchange works. Today, the Owl Library, so called because it is also open late at night, at Via Mancini 99 in Formigene, near Modena, has a collection of more than 10,000 books, seven branches, and a warehouse that serves as a storage facility . And to think that all the friends of the Neri family, the first to donate books, were very skeptical about the success of the initiative.

WHAT IS A DIFFUSED LIBRARY –

The Owl Library follows a model already widespread in the United States , based on sharing reading, making it a collective experience . In the Anglo-Saxon world, they are called " free libraries " and are true neighborhood libraries. The Neri family's "creation," in particular, is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and the curious thing is that nighttime is the most fruitful time for exchange.

Today, three years later, the Owl Library is growing, transforming from a quiet community into a true meeting place . Stalls are increasingly being set up where some of the books donated by voluntary donations are sold. All proceeds go to charity. And the results so far are very positive, as the passion for reading in the area is growing rapidly, as are the donations.

The photos are taken from the Owl Library Facebook page

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