As part of the roll-out of the JUNK-Kidz Library, JUNK.com.au has hundreds of books ready to be donated. So we went on the search for an organisation that shared our concerns for children’s literacy in Australia.

None were as passionate and driven as the ‘Streets Library’, founded in 2015 by Sydney resident Rob Lowe.

Streets Library has a vision to build an Australian-based free library movement that encourages literacy and community. Street Library aims to be a self-sufficient revenue source by selling libraries to those who do not want to build them and hosting workshops for those who want to learn how to build them.

 

Anyone can set up their library on their street. The idea is that people walking by can swap and trade their books without the inconvenience of renting a book from a library, as suggested by their motto: “Take a Book, Give a Book, Share a Book.”

Mr Lowe said the reason he started the non-profit organisation was for both his love of books and to do something about the alarming literacy rates of children in Australia.

“It’s a great community project based around something I love (books). I believe they are the foundation of all knowledge”, he said.

“In these times of digital overload, we forget that long-form literature can express complex and nuanced ideas, concepts and stories that enrich our lives in ways a 20-word Facebook post can’t”, he said.

HOW WE ARE HELPING

JUNK.com.au is helping this project through the distribution of over 100 books we’ve collected in our JUNK KIDZ Library. Over the coming weeks, our JUNK Dudes will be visiting Streets Libraries all over the Bellarine, boosting their numbers and helping lift their profile.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

If you’ve got old books that you’d rather see recycled than in landfill, then visit the JUNK Office at 116 Furner Avenue, North Geelong. Here we can add your books to our JUNK KIDZ Library, which will end up being distributed to Streets Libraries all over Geelong.