The New Greens Book Shed was officially opened on Monday 29 March 2021, New Greens, St Albans.
The New Greens Book Shed, (NGBS) is simple concept, of a free local
community library allowing people to take a book, read, and then return or exchange them. It’s open 24/7 for anyone local to use, to give everyone the benefit of books within local distance for those who can’t easily travel to a library or book shop.
The idea of a book exchange was floating around on local community pages on Facebook, and the idea then snowballed when a handful of local residents in the New Greens and Batchwood areas came together to develop the idea further.
The NGBS was officially opened by local poet and resident of St Albans John Mole.
The project is wholly run by local community volunteers and has been provided funding for from County Councillor Roma Mills, in addition to the McColl’s mini-store on High Oaks and The Adda Club.
The New Greens Book Shed is supported by Christ Church on High Oaks who have given permission for the Book Shed to be located on the church grounds.
Rev. Dr Jeremy Follett said “I think its a great project, and amazing to see our residents come together like this. This endeavour reflects the sprit and ethos of the tight-knit community we are accustomed to in New Greens, and we are proud to have it located at Christchurch”.
“ We held a book donation day on Thursday, and our community donated plenty of books, with a promise of many more. It is wonderful to see such a worthy and sustainable cause so well supported by a proactive and cohesive community.” said Robin Wilding, one of the lead volunteers on the book shed.
She has been working alongside a core group of people who have driven the project forward, including Anjali Perin, who decorated the shed and Monir Ali, who has organised the purchasing of the shed and has overseen it getting put in place.
Anjali adds “We have been overwhelmed with the support for the project, and the number of volunteers who have already signed up to help look after the book shed, from the ongoing upkeep to setting up and running the book donation days. We also hope to build events around this venture to involve the local
community further as we ease out of lockdown and we feel it also forms a small part of us helping support sustainability in St Albans.”
The book shed is open for all to use, and is located at Christchurch, High Oaks, St Albans, AL3. There will be book donation days for people to donate books on advertised days every month. For more information, or to volunteer please visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/newgreensbookshed or email newgreensbookshed@gmail.com
