Mobile devices are here to stay – and according to Cisco Systems will outnumber humans by the end of the year. This leaves very little use for phone booths for making calls, so architect John Locke came up with a new purpose for them – as a small public library.
Part of Locke’s Department of Urban Betterment, the second DUB library is a set of pumpkin-orange shelves attached to a rarely-used New York City phone booth, filled with donated books. The first attempt at a free book-sharing system was in a less busy area and saw both books and shelves disappear entirely. Locke is more hopeful about his second attempt, located on 96th Street.
Both of the libraries purposefully avoid giving directions to those who pass by, something Locke is rethinking. While the conspicuous location and logos on the book spines have so far discouraged vandalism, the libraries have not seen as much borrowing as their inventor would hope.
(Image and Story via Inhabit)
Related posts:
