ISABEL Mitchell is the owner of Stockton’s very first Little Street Library, a new concept of book swapping with the central idea to ‘Take a book, leave a book.’

These libraries are entirely free to use, and encourage trust and hope in the community; there are no check ins, holds, or late return fees.

Isabel’s street library even has its own name, The Little Red Street Library.

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Isabel spoke to News Of The Area about her library, “My hope in setting up The Little Red Street Library in Stockton was to make reading accessible to every member of our community.

“I have themed and genre weeks for my library too, with some of my favourite weeks being Children’s and Young Adult literature.

“I time these weeks with school holidays so it’s easy for kids to pop down and have a look.”

These street libraries are all about encouraging reading, and in no way are they trying to discourage visitors of traditional libraries, they simply provide a different avenue to receive and donate books.

“It’s so important now more than ever, especially in this digital age, to encourage reading within our young people and wider community.

“The connection through reading has been especially important in the last 12 months as we’ve seen more physical isolation from our communities,” said Isabel.

The Little Red Street Library can even be found on Facebook, “I post pictures of the latest additions to encourage people to come down and take books, and through this Facebook page I’ve had so many interesting people contact me about donations and to request certain authors.

“At the moment I’ve been on the hunt for female Australian authors for a community member who has taken up reading after the death of her husband,” Isabel told News Of The Area.

“I’m so grateful for the new connections I’ve created in the Stockton community,” said Isabel.

Visit www.facebook.com/The-Little-Red-Street-Library-Stockton-103683431643937/

By Tara CAMPBELL