Random Libraries

“Open Bookshelves” is what they call those small libraries that are to be found out on the streets in German towns. Anybody can come along and either donate or borrow a book. They are open day and night and they have an ever-changing selection of books.

Not even the rain can deter the people of Bonn from dropping in at their “Open Bookshelf”. There is always a constant coming and going at the stand on the Poppelsdorfer Allee, one of the five “Bookshelf” locations in the city. A car suddenly stops, a young woman jumps out and places some new books on the shelves in the library under the spreading chestnut trees. One of the books is entitled Why men don’t listen by Allan and Barbara Pease; another one is called Selige Zeiten, brüchige Welt (English title – Wings of Stone) by Robert Menasse. They are a welcome addition to the collection of about 200 other books on the shelves of the two-metre-tall bookcase with glass doors.

The basic idea behind these “Open Bookshelves” is as simple as it is ingenious – anybody can either place a book on the shelf or take one out without any bureaucratic paperwork, at any time of the day or night and on any day of the year. The libraries are as colourful as the people who use them. You will find fiction next to cookery books, computer books lined up with specialist psychological literature. All kinds of people avail themselves of the books: students, housewives, senior citizens and the homeless. They either drop in by chance or they know about them and make a bee-line for the bookshelves. “It is also a place for communicating,” says Nicole Schmidt from the Bürgerstiftung Bonn (a community foundation in Bonn). “Books can get people talking really quickly”.

A library as a social sculpture

The “Open Bookshelves” are the product of an ideas competition organised by the Bürgerstiftung Bonn” in 2003. Back then it was an idea by Trixy Royeck that won everybody over. At the time she was studying interior design in Mainz and had been inspired by the artistic duo of Clegg & Guttmann. At the beginning of the 1990s they had already set up open bookshelves first in Graz in Austria, and then in Mainz in Germany. Clegg & Guttmann see their open bookshelves as a form of social sculpture – it is the assortment of books and the way people treat them that, in the artists’ opinion, reflect the structure of the urban district.

“We have experienced as good as no vandalism or abuse of the books”, reports Nicole Schmidt. She also said in all the years there had never been a single case of graffiti. “We are also a little bit amazed by this fact, too, but also very pleased about it.” The only exception being Weiberfastnacht (Women’s Carnival Day), “somebody set fire to the books on the shelves in the Beuel district of Bonn”. That is the reason why this library, by way of exception, is closed on the last five “wild” days of the carnival.

Come rain, come sunshine

The people of Bonn are not just keen to make use of their “Open Bookshelves” – they also feel responsible for them. Voluntary guardians make sure that the shelves do not have any books on them that contain right-wing extremist, pornographic or any other offensive material. Every now and then they even clean the glass doors. “We do not actually know all the names of these guardians,” explains Nicole Schmidt. “The books are often put into neat order by passers-by as well. Sometimes they phone us to let us know that, for example, a door has been unhinged by the wind.” The occasional replacement of the glass doors constitutes one of the few running costs incurred. These costs are also covered completely by the donations people make. “It supports itself totally – no funding necessary at all,” says the woman from the foundation gleefully.

The last two bookcases that were purchased in Bonn in August 2008 cost € 6,000 each. “The doors on these now have an improved operating mechanism – they close automatically”, Ms. Schmidt explains. The glass is also much more weatherproof and stable, enabling it to stand up better to the mass and weight of all the books. The outer frame is still the same, made of a special alloyed steel that is not prone to rusting at all. The construction of steel and glass is firmly cemented into the ground, helping it to brave the most severe of storms. Even during long periods of rain however no moisture is able to get at the books, as the turnover is too fast. “Some books are gone from the shelves after only five minutes.”

Something for the train

“Keeping books on shelves is cruelty to books” – that is the slogan used by Bookcrossing, an internet-based book-swapping network. This site enables readers to get themselves organised and to put the books they have finished reading at other people’s disposal without any financial interest. In contrast to Bookcrossing the “Open Bookshelves” however are organised on a very local basis. They are available offline – ideal for people who feel they suddenly want to have a read. The book shelves on the Poppelsdorfer Allee in Bonn are located very close to the railway station. Nicole Schmidt realises this is a huge plus-point, “Lots of commuters pass by every day, all of them in need of a book to read on the train and then they can return it after a few days”. And if they really liked it, they can keep it and replace it with another one – no other library offers a deal like this.

The Bürgerstiftung foundation in Bonn is particularly pleased about the fact that tourists have taken the idea back to their hometowns. “Visitors often give us a call to enquire about how we organise the libraries. Then, later, they send us press articles about the new bookshelves in their towns.” In the meantime there are now “Open Bookshelves” in Hanover, Darmstadt and Bayreuth. Not only a lot of books of all kinds have gone into them, but also a lot of community effort and commitment and an idea that is beginning to catch on everywhere.