the essential
There are 85 reading boxes spread throughout the public space. Based on the principle of exchange, they allow you to take a book but also to put it down. What do we really find there? A little tour of the track.
Orange and white, you can’t miss them. There are 85 reading boxes in Toulouse. Based on the principle of exchange, they allow you to take a book and put it down. Positioned in busy places, we opened five at random. Let’s see what they contain. Let’s start with the one at Place Lounès Matoub, in Soupetard. Rather disappointingly, with its half-empty shelves, there are two works by Gérard de Villiers, “The Pearl” by Steinbeck, “The Glory of My Father” by Pagnol. A woman with bare breasts sits on the cover of “Camera for FX-18?” by Paul Kenny, right next to children’s books, illustrated with ducklings.
Also read:
Reading box: the library of finds
We head towards the Rose Garden, where the reading box is at the metro exit. Here too, the loot is distressing since it only has two books. One concerns English grammar; the other, English vocabulary. On the bottom shelf, a Télérama with Delon on the cover awaits readers. Fortunately, Claude saves the honor by submitting a beautiful book on “La marqueterie”. “I no longer have any use for it, it will please someone,” he explains. We notice an ad on the window where a music lover is looking for a music group.
From “The Da Vinci Code” to Patrick Pelloux
Now head towards Borderouge, where we spot a reading box in front of the Maourine nursery school. This time, it is full of interesting references. Between the “Da Vinci code”, “Always there, Always ready” by Patrick Pelloux, “La femme brouillon” by Amandine Dhée, “Une gourmande” by Muriel Barbery, or even a cookbook on “Les papillotes”, there is plenty to find happiness. Away from the books, a small yellow plastic top truck seems to be waiting for its young owner.
Also read:
Reading box: the other library
On the way to the city center, we stop at Place Héraclès. Here again, the reading box looks sad with its eight books including an “Agatha Christie”, two works in Portuguese, three practical guides in English, “The Metamorphosis” by Kafka in Italian without forgetting a novel with the water of pink. And what about that of the Jardin Raymond VI with only its two books including “L’Amour obscure” by Daniel Rops and “The gangrenes of honor” by José Luis de Vilallonga. This bears the code of a library even though it is clearly stipulated that these reading boxes are not a depository for books borrowed from the library.
Aware of the aging aesthetic of these reading boxes, the town hall plans to customize it and create 15 of them by the end of the year. “And the same in 2025,” announces Samir Hajije, elected in charge of reading. And with regard to their content, the elected official plans to “call on two people in civic service to travel throughout the network in order to supply these reading boxes with surplus from the city’s libraries”. All by cargo bike. “We want to breathe new life into them,” concludes the elected official.
