The Yorkton Public Library has launched a new program designed to give older books a new home and to promote the sharing of the written word.
The program is called 'Take me, Read me, Leave me', explained Chief Librarian Meagan Richards.
Richards admitted the idea "is borrowed," as she has seen it done in other places.
But it is also an idea she said seemed a good one to try locally.
The idea is a simple one, the library takes books which no longer fit the collection, or are donated and not needed within the system, and puts them in protective plastic bags and then leaves them in locales in the city.
"It gives a book a second chance," she said.
A picture is taken as a clue, and posted to the library's Facebook page.
Richards said people are encouraged to seek out the
book, read them, post their experience to Facebook, and then leave the book somewhere else for others to discover. In many cases tourists find the books, and leave the books in a community down the road. Over time a book can have quite a story associated with its travels.
Richards said while tourists are something of a target for a 'Take me, Read me, Leave me' project so far in the City "local Yorkton people, seem to be searching for them specifically." She said people see the picture clues on Facebook and seem intrigued by the challenged "to see if they can find it."
The first books went out last week, and richards noted Friday, "I think they have all been picked up."
While not wanting to give away exact locations, Richards said areas such as the Godfrey Dean Gallery, and City Hall, are good areas since they tend to be tourist destinations and are known locally as well.
Richards said she expects to seed a few books each week through the summer.
In some locales 'book boxes' which look much like a bird house have become popular as repositories for sharing books,
"That idea has been floating around here," said Richards. "It's a possible future project for the library." She added it would dovetail with the current book sharing effort.
Projects such as sharing redundant books rather than recycling them just makes sense, offered Richards.
"Part of being a library is about outreach."
