06-05-2025
Blantyre residents setting up community library box project
The new book-swapping box will open up in the heart of the community in time for the summer holidays.
A new chapter is being written for Blantyre as a book-sharing box is being developed in the heart of the community.
Known as the Wee Free Library, it will be put in place in the grounds of Blantyre Old Parish Church and will allow local residents of all ages to borrow and swap pre-loved books, share their recommended reads and even access reading aids and community notices.
Local residents Zoe Dargue and David Lee are leading the project, with a five-foot outdoor structure containing a host of bookshelves to be constructed – and painted red – in the coming weeks with the aim of being ready for use by the start of the school summer holidays.
Zoe is the author of the growing Brae Discovers series of children's books, featuring a stray cat discovering his home area of Blantyre and its history, and told how the Wee Free Library project aims to 'spark creativity, foster a love for reading and bring our community closer together'.
She told Lanarkshire Live: 'The library box will be outside the church so can be accessed even when the building is closed – we have all the materials for the build to get started and we have 150 people in our Facebook group, waiting patiently for updates and pictures and to get ready for the opening.
'We contacted Blantyre Old Parish Church and asked if we could use their premises for a book swap library, and encourage people coming out of the church and classes and clubs there to use it. We've also approached youth clubs and we hope the whole community gets involved, especially children.
'My living room is already full of donated books to stock the library – we'll have books for everyone, with the kids' section being on the lower shelves in easy reach and we hope there will be a constant flow of children's books and that children especially will develop a relationship with the library.
'Brae is Blantyre's first children's book and we think it's important to encourage reading. We hope this will be something people see when they're passing by and want to look at and get involved with, and as well as books, we'll have things like reading aids, rulers to assist people with dyslexia, stationery and free colouring-in sheets for children to encourage people to use it.'
Zoe told how the idea was inspired by honesty boxes she had seen while touring the north of Scotland, with goods inside ranging from farm-fresh foods to books, and how she had thought the idea would be a welcome addition to the community in her home area.
A similar free library is also already in place at the Regent Centre in Hamilton, with Zoe and David recently sharing a social media video of a busy day of restocking its shelves using donated books and additional titles purchased from nearby charity shops.
The public book-sharing initiatives allow visitors to borrow, exchange or donate pre-loved books with the invitation to 'take one, leave one or both', and donations can be left in the accessible community space when it opens for book-sharing during the summer months.
Zoe and David add: 'We hope that Blantyre will adopt the Wee Free Library as their own, continuing to stock their own donations and allowing the community to spread the work on a noticeboard in the box – our goal is to create a hub of inspiration and connection for people of all ages to be proud to be a part of.'
The current aim is for Blantyre's Wee Free Library to open in later June or early July for the school summer holidays.
