the book collector
thoroughly. What it demonstrates above all else is that in poor com- munities institutions that are trusted are in short supply; that the public library stands head and shoulders above all others in terms of public esteem; and that with imagination and strong leadership it can be the lynchpin in giving people hope and direction in their lives. It’s also possible to do things on a smaller scale: micro-libraries. The ft.com/magazine took the subject up. Stephanie Nsom, a German living in south London, noticed that her neighbours put their old books out in the street for others to take. She got a friend to build a cheer- ful-looking box (30 cm x 30 x 70) and put it at the end of her garden. It was an immediate success. ‘Passers-by stopped to look, borrow and donate books – and to talk to one another…People even left notes to each other inside the library...I realised that people were craving conversation as much as books,’ said Ms Nsom. Another factor is the absence of that feeling of intimidation that can linger in some orthodox libraries. Moreover, you don’t need to provide proof of address in order to borrow a book from a micro – a rule that prevents homeless people from borrowing from public libraries. In the US Little Free Library is another example. It began in 2009 and now boasts 70,000 micros in eighty-five countries. Among these countries is Sudan, which has sixty-five micros. In the Philippines is the Book Stop Project, which includes govern- ment-funded micros. In Britain the national phone company, BT, says that book exchanges are the most popular use of its old red phone boxes. These can be purchased from BT for the nominal fee of £ 1 in its Adopt a Kiosk scheme. Elsewhere there is a micro at Banbury railway station and at Arsenal Underground. As one of their supporters says, the plus points are numerous: they have long opening hours, are convenient, cheap, self-sustaining and above all, foster community spirit. A statistic supporting this that pops up quite regularly compares the decline in reading habits to the rise in loneliness. The figures are almost a perfect match. The fact is that the company of a novel, whether ‘good’ or ‘bad’, is company indeed. Who ever felt lonely reading about a sh*t like Darcy? macintyre’s paradox comes in two parts: the first, that man is born with a surplus of brain cells, the second, that the wastage caused by nor- mal dissipation leaves him or her with perfect intellectual equilibrium. Here is Agnès Poirier on the subject of Sartre: ‘Orthédrine was a freely available ‘upper’, or excitant as it was known in French. It had been the
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