‘Check out’ street library

By Lachlan Ellis

A new communal library has been launched in Blackwood, with books for both kids and adults planned to fill its shelves.

Made possible thanks to a ‘Storm Recovery – Healing Country’ grant from Emergency Recovery Victoria, the Blackwood Street Library was launched at the Blackwood Street Party on Saturday 24 June.

Local business owner Karen Bruno allowed the wooden shelves to be installed on her land, with the Blackwood Progress Association subsidising the signage and Matt from Just 2 Hands building the library.

Jinny Coyle was one of the main organisers of the Blackwood Street Library, and said street libraries were something she was “a bit obsessed with”.

“We got a Storm Recovery Grant earlier in the year, auspiced by Moorabool Shire Council, of $20,000. It was to be used specifically for Healing Country, to be used under consultation with First Nations Elders. It had to be spent by the end of March, so Progress offered to host an Indigenous component at the Easter Carnival,” she told the Moorabool News.

“We wanted to bring around reconciliation in Blackwood, then what was the best way to approach that? The conversation was that it would work really well working through children, educating them so that education goes upwards. At the Easter Carnival we had a Welcome to Country and a smoking ceremony, and then we had Aunty Gail, who’s written a set of books for children, hold storytelling sessions at the Carnival.”

With the small amount of money left over, the idea came about to give First Nations books to local children.

Around 50 books were purchased, with 30 of those bring children’s First Nations books.
Locals Caitlin Perry, Mel Bodiam, Karen Bruno, and Carol Guthrie helped in the big task of listing local children, with 82 in total counted.

“But if we’re going to do that [get books for local children], where can the books live? Where is accessible for children? Everywhere in Blackwood is either locked or a business…so that was where I came up with the idea of a street library, they’re something I’m passionate about,” Ms Coyle said.

“There’s two components to the Street Library. We’ve collected a list of every child 12 and under in Blackwood, and some from Barrys Reef and Dales Creek who frequent Blackwood. That ended up being 82 books, so we listed out the ages and organised for each book to be age appropriate. There are seven books we’re in the process of giving out at the moment.

“The other component is the Street Library itself. Karen Bruno’s business is right where the bus stop is so it’s really accessible to the kids. I also bought around 30 First Nations books, and there’s children’s books there but also books for adults about Australia and the forest, there’s bush tucker books, recipe books…all sort of about Healing Country post-storm.”

With the dreary weather at the Street Party, the launch couldn’t be done at the Blackwood Street Library itself, so a soft launch was held last Saturday to hand out books.

How the Street Library works, Ms Coyle said, will be up to the community – but she hopes it will be a great community asset, under the philosophy “take a book, give a book, share a book”.

“We’ve got about a quarter full at the moment, so there’s plenty of room for other books to go in. It’s over to the community, it’ll just evolve I’m hoping. If the community want to share some books, that’d be fantastic,” she said.