A unique lockdown Honour Book Exchange has been established in the Village Square Superspar in St Francis Bay.
Bookworms – and non-readers who want to turn over a new page – can bring a book and exchange it for one of the books left by someone else.
The whole system works on trust.
Management at Superspar said the scheme has been an immediate hit.
“The Book Exchange was set up by an initial donation of about 25 books by Frank Nunan of Write-On Publishing on the Friday, and by Saturday afternoon I had to move the books from the ice cream counter to the vacant flower stand, as the number of books had more than doubled,” said Darryl Geel of Superspar. “People would bring in two or three books and take one.”
The scheme is the brainchild of Write-On’s Frank Nunan, who says that as a voracious reader himself, he started to wonder where he was going to get reading matter when his supply ran out.
“Where the idea came from, I have no idea, but I woke up at 03:00 one morning with it in my head: ‘I wonder if Spar will let me set up a book exchange’,” he said.
“Well, that afternoon I went off to Spar for some shopping and spoke to Geel about it. He sent me to General Manager, André Koekemoer, who did not hesitate for a second: Great idea. Ask Darryl to find you a place.”
An hour later, Nunan brought a couple of packets of books which were displayed in a plastic crate on the ice-cream counter.
When he got home, he posted the idea and some pictures on the St Francis Bay Facebook Page.
“I was stunned by the response,” said Nunan. “Within seconds, people started commenting and liking the post, and every single one commended great idea. I really did not expect that. I honestly did not think it was that big a deal.
“People from other towns asked why they did not have anything like that in their own towns. I guess I underestimated how much people love reading, especially during this difficult time. I am just happy I was able to help fight the effects of the virus in this little way.”
Geel of Village Superspar, who claims to be a non-reader, has embraced the project with enthusiasm and looks after it diligently – keeping the books neat and tidy all day long.
“There is a steady stream of people who come to shop, and use the opportunity to exchange books throughout the day. All of them agree it is a lovely idea”, says Darryl.
“Village Square Superspar is delighted to be a part of this project. Anything we can do to help alleviate the stress of the lockdown is worth it, and this is not costing anyone anything, just a little bit of space we are not using anyway. I love my Spar!”
All books left over after the lockdown period, will be donated to the SPCA Assisi.
