About nine months ago whilst visiting the nearest largest town, Carmarthen, I happened to notice a sign saying 'Books for Free' outside an old Allied Carpets showroom. Naturally I had to investigate and found the whole space full of thousands of books on all subjects and I was allowed to take three of them away with me for nothing! Gratis. Free. No catch. Unbeknown to me this shop had been up and running locally for about three months (now a year!) and there are plenty more of them out there all over the UK taking unwanted books from the public, publishers and charity shops rather than let them go to landfill which is their fate unless someone comes along to love them. All the shops are run by the charity
Healthy Planet, staffed with volunteers and so far they've saved over 2 million books from landfill. Rather than just take what I fancy, when I see a sign saying I can have a maximum of something, I tend to spend ages making sure I give three books a new home... as if I need any more!
Whilst in town today I couldn't resist it and so came home with a musty old book on wildlife, a tatty little book about bird's eggs and where to find them (so un-pc in this day and age I know but the illustrations are great) and a truly beautiful find of a children's nature book illustrated by Paxton Chadwick. I have quite a few Puffin Picture Books that he illustrated in the 50's and 60's and in amongst the foxed pages of my final free book are three pull out colour lithographs which are stunning in their detail. What a find. Not the norm of what I pick up there usually but a real treasure.
I have found some fascinating novels in the many boxes inside the store and once I've read them I have returned them in case they are wanted by other readers. I love the whole concept of the place and have recommended it to people over and over again. In truth, I feel I should offer to volunteer but I am afraid it will be the slippery slope with my book collecting habits. The owner of the Allied Carpets showroom has to pay business rates whether he has an occupant or not so having someone using the building makes good sense even though they are on 24 hour notice to move should the building suddenly get rented out. As it's been there a year I cannot see it happening any time soon in this current climate so do take a look at the link to the website and see if there is a Books for Free near you. It really is an easy cause to support and who knows what you could find?
