Erin Carter unveils Tamworth's first neighbourhood book exchange

Erin Carter opened her Little Free Library last week, which encourages locals to grab a book from purpose-built boxes outside her Oxley Vale home, take it home, pass it on to a friend or swap it for another.

Mrs Carter saw the idea on Facebook several years ago as part of the global Little Free Library organisation.

It quickly became a family effort to get the project off the ground – her husband built the book boxes and her two sons donated some of their old books. 

“It’s the only (Little Free Library) in Tamworth,” Mrs Carter said.

“I think reading is incredibly important. 

“It’s how kids grow and learn, build relationships with them and it opens up their imagination.”

Little Free Library began in America in 2009 when a man built a model of a one-room schoolhouse in tribute to his mother, who loved to read.

He filled it with books and put it on a post in his front yard. 

His neighbors and friends loved it, so he built more and gave them away. 

The idea has since grown rapidly, with more than 50,000 Little Free Libraries found across the world. 

But Mrs Carter’s is a first for Tamworth and the entire region.

Mrs Carter posted news of her free community book exchange on Tamworth Buy, Swap, Sell Facebook site last week. 

Within hours, the post had reached almost 1000 people and garnered hundreds of comments, with offers to donate books.

“I wasn’t expecting (the response) to be quite like this,” she said.

“It’s quite overwhelming.

“I just hope people read them.

“I’d like to see them walking off the shelves.”

The boxes are filled with books to suit almost everybody – adults and children, across the fiction and non-fiction genres.

The Little Free Library can be found at 95 Glengarvin Drive, Oxley Vale. Anyone wishing to donate books can drop them in the boxes.