I came across this book via the Guardian this week:

Here’s the outline:

From the rise of the egalitarian Little Free Library movement (motto: Take a book, return a book) to the growth in luxury hotel libraries, Alex Johnson whose parents were both librarians maps out the history and future of the 21st-century library revolution in seven thematic chapters, each consisting of a brief essay followed by illustrated project profiles. Whether by bike in Chicago or by donkey in Colombia, librarians all over the world are coming up with astonishingly ingenious ways of ensuring their books reach the people who need them. Many of these new libraries function as community centres, and assist their members in overcoming economic, social and political barriers. Others provide an unexpected dose of culture for travellers and commuters or even prisoners. Elsewhere, architects are designing monumental public libraries without walls, and prefabricated home libraries that can be assembled in an ordinary back garden. Whether youre at an airport, a park, a café or in the wilds, you can still find just the right book all for free.

It sounds fascinating, don’t you think? By the time I got to the end of the Guardian article (which features amazing pictures: the Mongolian Children’s Mobile Library, on the back of a camel, and the Lao library boats for children on the Mekong and Ou rivers), I was off out: to my local bookstore to buy the book, and then to the library, to find a quiet corner and read it.