Read all about it - in the sunshine!

I am taking a  holiday  from my blog till September 2016 - see you all then!

If you're worried by stories of library closures across Britain, take heart - it's not all empty buildings and unread books. There's a new fashion for open-air borrowing and it's definitely catching on.  Last week I visited a mobile café and library in Homestead Park in York where celebrations were in place for the the 100th anniversary of the birth of Roald Dahl.

Charlie and his Chocolate Factory in Homestead Park, York

Celebrating the  100th anniversary of  Roald Dahl's birth 

Nearer my home in Lancashire 'Little Garden Libraries' have been popping up in the front gardens of book-lovers' homes. All you have to do is 'take a book and leave a book' and the service is entirely free. They can even be found in local hotels, too.

A hand-made little library ready for its new home at Ribby Hall, Wrea Green, Lancashire.

A little garden library in a Lancashire garden

Want to borrow a book? Take a pew!

With thanks to the Reader's Nook

How would you feel about going to church to borrow a library book?

The idea came to me when I saw this wonderful photo of a disused church in the Netherlands, built in 1294 and converted into a library in 2007.   I'm not suggesting we convert our churches, of course,  just make use of them on the days they are empty.

All over Great Britain we have beautiful old churches of all denominations with dwindling congregations and dwindling revenue to match. Meanwhile, local authorities are struggling to keep open our local libraries, many of which are often the central point of the community. Churches need funding and libraries need a place to go - so why couldn't the two work together to their mutual benefit? Before anyone suggests I'm being sacrilegious, I assure you I am not. Quite the opposite in fact.  Isn't it time more people got to see the inside of some of our country's historic buildings before they are closed forever?  Isn't there a correlation between great architecture and great literature?

The idea would work particularly well in rural areas where community services are constantly being pruned or stopped altogether.  An area of the church could be dedicated to books at certain times of the week with the provision, maybe, of coffee and a warm place to chat.  Methodist churches regularly invite the congregation to coffee and cakes after  the morning service - so perhaps it's a short step to include books too?

The once-popular Borders book chain  went into administration in 2009, partly due to competition from the internet. Today the sales of e-books are, in some cases, overtaking their paper counterparts. I am all for progress and regularly use my kindle, but the truth is that we will always have a place for 'real' books, even if only as a  reminder of our glorious heritage.