Mini Public Library Project

John Locke is an artistic genius. He's not the infamous philosopher you're probably thinking of, but he comes pretty close. He's found an ingenious way to reinvent phone booths. Not that many people use phone booths, they've become almost obsolete with cell phone's being so affordable, but he's converted many of them to serve a dual purpose. He's managed to turn these "relics" into min public libraries. He installed his first one in New York City around 96th street. All of the books in the booth were donated by local residents. Within six hours of the first booth being set up, all of the books were gone!

The project is a part of John Locke's Department of Urban Betterment program. The goal is to improve urban spaces and encourage sharing. You take a book, you bring a book back. He hopes to challenge people to engage with their street surroundings. To open your eyes and look around, instead of looking down or meandering mindlessly without seeing what's right in front of you.

Hopefully the project can catch on and spread to more cities. In my opinion there can never be too much human interaction, or too many libraries! Technology will always evolve and its up to us to make sure that our surroundings don't become victims to our neglect. Just because phone booths are considered to be "obsolete" doesn't mean that there is no other purpose for them. Upcycling - the concept of taking something old and turning it into something new - is something we should all try to incorporate more often.

images via Graceful Spoon