Salvaged Pop-Up Library
This mobile, modular pop-up library spotted in Cologne, Germany is made of reclaimed materials and set on the edge of a park so readers can choose a book and then venture out in to the trees to read it, or gaze at them from the large glass windows.
BiebBus Expanding Mobile Library
Two stacked shipping containers, the top one sliding to straddle the lower one once the whole thing is parked, hold over 7,000 books. The BiebBus travels from school to school in the Amdsterdam area, offering facilities for 35 to 40 children at a time. The ceiling of the lower container is transparent, and the upper container features a hangout area for reading. Placed near primary schools, the BiebBus is narrow enough to fit in parking lots and other free spaces in the urban environment.
Floating Library
This experimental public art project brings artists’ books and other printed matter to people having fun on Minnesota’s many lakes over the summer. Architect Molly Reichert created a custom raft with bookshelves accessible by patrons who float up in their canoes, kayaks, paddle boards, skiffs, rowboats or even inner tubes. Unsurprisingly, trying to disseminate books on a body of water means each volume has to be contained within a waterproof protective cover.
BiblioBurro
Luis Soriano takes his two burros, Alfa and Beto, all over Colombia to deliver a selection of about 70 books to children in each area. Soriano got the idea after seeing how much power reading had over his students, and the project expanded after a radio station covered it, leading to a rotating collection of 4,800 volumes. The most popular BiblioBurro books are children’s adventure stories.
