The Street Library enables people, and companies, to use their very own books (new or already-read) to raise funds for their own favourite charity.

Simply by leaving their Street Library-labelled books in public spaces, where they are then freely picked up by lucky book-finders.

And the fundraising part?

To say “Thanks” for being gifted their free book, these lucky book-finders are asked to donate a few pounds to the charity specified on a sticky label attached to the inside front cover of the book (the name of that charity being the choice of the original book donor – you!).

Plus, in addition to being asked to make this small donation, book-finders, after reading their free book (and making their donation), are also asked to leave the same book in a public place again.

And the cycle begins again. And continues

Indefinitely.

Each Sreet Library book then becomes a source of REPEAT donations for the charity specified by the original book-donor.

We all have a few already-read books lying around. So, as well as being a passive revenue-generator for your favourite charity, the Street Library is also a great way of getting rid of the clutter.

To use your already-read books to raise funds for your favourite charity, you can either distribute your books yourself, or send them here for use as social media competition prizes first, before the books are subsequently distributed in public by the competition prizewinners.

1. Distributing your books yourself (and in aid of your own favourite charity – subsidised cost: £5).

2. Send your books here instead.

All books are freely labelled here, before being distributed via a series of weekly social media competitions (on Twitter/X, Facebook and Bluesky). The competition-winner, after reading the books first of course, then distributes the books in their own local area.

In this case though, it is the competition winner who nominates the charity (the labels attached to each book have a blank space where they can nominate their charity of choice).

If you do indeed decide to send your books here first (to be distributed via these social media competitions), and if you send at least 4 different books, then competition-entrants “following” your own social media accounts (on Twitter/X, Facebook and/or Bluesky) is a condition of entry to the competition.

However, as these books are being used as competition prizes, the books must be in very good condition.

*Subsidised cost?

These labels actually cost me just over £5 (to print & post enough labels for 8 books). However, as it all benefits charities in the end, I am happy to post these labels to you for a round £5 (with the remaining costs, just pennies per order really, being subsidised by myself, through the sale of DIY Walking Tours, by dotScot (who sponsor the Street Library project) & via my participation in the Waterstones Affiliate Program).

To take part in the Street Library, and have your books promoted in a future Street Library social media competition, please post your books to:

Street Library
PO Box 8271
Girvan
KA26 6AF

This is where I see the greatest potential of the Street Library – as the Street Library is an extremely low-cost way for your company to tell prospective customers that you constantly support charity – and lets them know just who/what that charity is).

And, as before, you have the same two options (book distributor, or book donor):

1. Distributing your books yourself (and in aid of your own favourite charity). Subsidised cost: £5.

If you wish to distribute your own books, in your own local area (or, and possibly even better for your business, via your own business premises – in which case you are really telling prospective customers to “come here for product/service X, and you could be walking away with a free book too”), and in aid of  your own favourite charity, then simply buy your labels here):

Street Library Labels (8 × 2 per book)

I will then send you labels for 8 books (two labels per book – one for the outer cover, which tells people that it is indeed a free book for them to take away and read, plus one label for the first page, which directs these readers to donate to the charity that you have nominated).

And don’t worry if you don’t have that many books to leave out. The labels are printed on sheets, so just peel of what you need, and give the remaining labels to a friend (who can peel off what they then need too, and give any that still remain to yet another friend, until all labels have been used).

So, not only are you using your very own books to raise funds for your very own favourite charity, if you do share your labels, then you are also giving a friend the opportunity to use their books to raise funds for their favourite charity too.

2. Send your books here instead.

All books are freely labelled here, before being distributed via a series of weekly social media competitions (on Twitter/X, Facebook and Bluesky). The competition-winner, after reading the books first of course, then distributes the books in their own local area.

Donated books can be either new or used (any used books must be in very good condition though).

Once received here, your donated books will be distributed via a future monthly Street Library social media competition (which are run on Twitter/X, Facebook and Bluesky). Your book/s will be featured alongside a minimum of 8 other books (which will have been donated by other Street Library supporters, or by the Street Library sponsors at the dotScot Registry).

These competitions are viewed over 10,000 times each month on various social media platforms, so are a very visible way of showcasing your book/s (and your support for charity).

Please post your books to:

Street Library
PO Box 8271
Girvan
KA26 6AF

There is a second benefit to your business when taking part in the Street Library:

Whether you yourself (or your employees) distribute the books in public (or through your own business premises), every time a book is picked up, it is a very positive advert for your business – as your business is named as being the original book-donor (and your own favourite charity is also named – and is the beneficiary of all “Thank You” donations).

So when that person, at some point in the future, is searching for a specific product or service, and they come across your business name during their search, your business name will already be familiar to them (and have very positive associations).

And these rather positive memories might just influence that persons purchasing decision?

To take part in the Street Library, and have your books promoted in a future Street Library social media competition, please post your books to:

Street Library
PO Box 8271
Girvan
KA26 6AF

When you send your books here though, it is the competition winner who nominates the donation-receiving charity (the labels attached to their books are blank when sent to them).

If you wish to nominate the donation-receiving charity yourself though, you will have to become a Street Library Distributor instead.

And, if you source your books from your own staff, being part of the Street Library scheme doesn’t cost you a penny – just the cost of posting your books here (if you want them/your business showcased in a future Street Library competition); or the cost of buying the labels (if you wish to distribute the books yourself). Otherwise, your participation in the Street Library scheme is completely free).

There are two different ways that authors and publishers can use the Street Library to promote specific books:

1/ By labelling and distributing your books yourself (in which case, you yourself nominate the charity where any “thank you” donations should be made); or,

2/ By simply sending each book to myself first, where it will then be freely labelled, and initially be distributed via a series of social media competitions. And from there to the general public.

Although these competitions attract less than 1,000 entrants each month, sharing the competition image with friends is a condition of entering each competition – so the actual competition image (which includes the cover images of each of your donated books) is viewed up to 10,000 times.

Once received here, your donated books will be featured in a future Street Library social media competition alongside a minimum of 8 other books (which will have been donated by other Street Library supporters, or by the Street Library sponsors at dotScot Registry).

And as these competition images are viewed over 10,000 times each month, they are a very visible way of showcasing your book/s (and your support for charity). And at the end of the competition, you can rest easy in the knowledge that the physical the book that you have donated is being used by the competition-winner to raise funds for their favourite UK-registered charity.

To take part in the Street Library fundraising scheme, simply post your books to:

Street Library
PO Box 8271
Girvan
KA26 6AF

This is the beauty of the Street Library scheme: if you distribute your books yourself, then you can raise funds for whichever charity, or community group, that you want?

The inner label which is attached to each Street Library book, has a space for you to nominate the charity where all “Thank You” donations should be made (so, every time that your book is picked up, the lucky book-finder is directed to donate to the charity that you have specified on the label in that book).

And it doesn’t just happen once and that’s it. The inner label also directs the lucky book-finder, after reading the book, to again leave it in a public place.

When the donation cycle starts again. And continues in this way.

Forever.

[or until the book falls apart at least]

Each book then becomes a source of repeat donations for your choice of charity.

If you send your books here first instead though, to be distributed via the monthly social media competitions, then your books will be freely labelled here – but the labels left blank (as it is the competition winner who nominates the charity).

And for two reasons:

First, this is an additional incentive for people to actually take part in the competitions.

More importantly though, these prizewinners could be located anywhere in the UK.

So a label that already specifies a local charity, in say, Inverness, might not appeal to a book-finder in Penzance.

This is why I always recommend that people use the Street Library social media competitions to raise funds for FareShare instead.

FareShare is a national charity. So it doesn’t matter where the books end up – FareShare will always be relevant .

There’s more to it though:

FareShare supplies food to almost 10,000 local charities and community groups throughout the UK (FareShare food is probably helping to feed the most-vulnerable adults and children in your very own community).

So, nominating FareShare on each book, allows you to raise funds for a national charity – but support people locally.

Prior to the Covid pandemic, I ran a similar (but much smaller) scheme called the AtaxiaBookFairy. Which was just myself using books to raise funds for FareShare (and also by sourcing brand new books from publishers/authors, which were then distributed to FareShare warehouse volunteers – to thank them for their selfless efforts).

You can read all about it at:

The FareShare Blog: Catching up with ‘super fundraiser’ Iain

https://x.com/FareShare_NE/status/1195367850732589057

https://x.com/FShareCSEScot/status/1445364853175164937

Authors/publishers were quite keen to get involved too:

Interview with Beverley Harvey

When Covid struck though, I felt that it would be a long time indeed before people were willing to pick up strange objects in public again, so that initial project was shelved.

However, that time (where people are happy to pick up books in public) has arrived much sooner than expected.

And as the AtaxiaBookFairy project was so successful before, I decided to replicate the project (but making it bigger this time – allowing others to do something similar, but for their own favourite charity too).

So, rather than just myself raising funds for FareShare this time, the new scheme (the Street Library) allows anyone to use their books to raise funds for their very own favourite charity instead.

#1: Charity Fundraising.

It costs just over £5 (to print & post enough labels for 8 books). However, as it all benefits charities in the end, I am happy to post these labels to you for a round £5 instead – with the remaining costs being subsidised by myself, through the sale of DIY Walking Tours, by dotScot (who sponsor the Street Library project) and through participation in the Waterstones affiliate program.

Congratulations!

Hopefully, that one book will have reawakened your sense of reading for pleasure.

If it has, then your local library will have all the books you desire (and if they don’t have a copy of a specific book at that moment – then most libraries will happily order it for you).

An even greater hope is that by finding that one book, then you will have been introduced to your new favourite author.

Again, their other books will be freely available to borrow from your local library, or you will find them available to buy at your local bookshop (or online from Waterstones).

Get your friends involved too.

Maybe give them some labels of their own – and let them use their already-read books to raise funds for their favourite charity too?

The labels come on sheets – so simply peel off what you need, and pass on the rest (and your friend does the same, until all labels are used)?

And please share this page with your social media friends as well.

Thanks!