In those fusty, dusty, rickety-staired libraries of the past, it was always remarkable how so many books were stacked into such a tiny space.
There are even smaller libraries these days. During the past 10 years, hundreds of colourfully painted letterbox-sized mini-libraries have sprouted across the country and even made it into the suburbs of Brisbane, watched over with affection by their "guardians".
"If I have a project in mind, it can’t get going until I’ve got a good name," the driving force behind Lilliput Libraries, Dunedin’s Ruth Arnison, says.
"Once the name’s there, I’m away. I was lying awake at night thinking, ‘what can I call it, it’s got to be something snappy so you don’t forget, and they’re only little’. And then I just thought of Gulliver’s Travels and the little people, Lilliput, and I loved the alliteration."
It has now been a decade since the first Lilliput Library was installed outside her Andersons Bay neighbours’ house. Just this week, squeaking in ahead of the 10th birthday celebrations, No. 400 was installed at Waitahuna, with Ailsa Rose as its guardian.
As part of the 10th anniversary, Arnison decided to donate 10 libraries to South Island rural communities without them.
"I don’t allocate numbers until they are on site. Some of the guardians who were gifted 10th birthday Lilliput Libraries have reassured me they will be up by the end of the month."
Meanwhile, library number one will be recycled after undergoing some running repairs, having sprung a leak.
"I’ve got No.1 sitting at my property. I took apart the bit that was leaking and we’re going to tidy it up a bit and give it away again."
After the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, fridges and cupboards began appearing on demolition sites and empty sections, full of books for those who needed some reading comfort.
That predated Lilliput by several years, but for Arnison, a former Cromwell and Dunedin librarian, it wasn’t about being the first to come up with the idea.
"There’s actually little free libraries all over the world. In America they have a big system called the Little Free Library. But I wanted to have a project, and I thought if I can produce 10 of these things, that will be my project for the year.
"My son was living in Melbourne, and he emailed me a picture, saying ‘look what’s at the end of our street’. It was this bright red cupboard, just full of books, and just to help yourself, and return them if you can.
"And I thought, ‘Oh my God, I could do that’. Then, thinking about how I could do it, I went to speak to the [Dunedin City] council about permission for having Lilliputs, and they didn’t want to know about it because it just got too complex for them.
"So, the council said, ‘do they have showers in them, do they have toilets, does anyone live in them?’. And I said, ‘no, no, they just have these books and sit outside.’ And the guy, honestly, he just said to me ‘go away’."
With funding from Creative New Zealand and local trusts, the first 10 were made for about $240 each by craftspeople at Cargill Enterprises.
"They built me the most beautiful little libraries, but they were expensive because of how well they were made, and they used great wood. But I thought if we ever did any more I had to find a cheaper way.
"Then I realised I had 10 Lilliputs and thought, what the hell am I going to do with them? Who is going to want them? So, my neighbour got one, and my brother got one down in Aramoana.
Those first 10 were spread across the city in a bid not to flood any one area. No. 1 was in place on September 29, 2015, and by the end of the year, after artists had painted them, there were six operating.
As the clamour to become a library guardian grew, Arnison found it increasingly difficult to keep up. She engaged the Taieri Blokes Shed to build the libraries. They have now made about 300 for about $130 each, only charging for material costs and not labour.
Her biggest problem now is dealing with the volume of books donated for the libraries.
"Somebody will ring me up and they’ll go, ‘oh, I’ve got some books I want to give you’. And I go, ‘look, they’ve got to be in really nice condition, and they’ve got to be relevant.
"Sometimes I don’t even get a call. I just go out my front door and sitting on my porch might be 10 boxes of books, and probably nine of them need to go to the dump."
Gaynor Chronican is the guardian of Lilliput Library No. 111, on Tanner Rd in Dunedin’s Glenleith. She contacted Arnison in 2017 after seeing the libraries appearing around the city.
"I felt my area would be an ideal location, close to the Ross Creek reserve walking tracks. Ruth was very happy to give me the plans to make a library and my husband David was happy to make one for us. In fact, he made two and our library’s sibling is in Mosgiel.
"When our library was painted, by me, and mounted, Ruth issued the number 111. Initially I had hoped to be number 100 but was just delighted with its number."
Stocking the library to ensure a good selection for passersby is a constant task, she says.
"I have always bought books at the Regent Book Sale but I needed more and I was grateful to many friends, family and colleagues who would give me books to make sure I had a good supply of varied types. I try to swap out books that stay a while and replace with something different."
Mystery, crime fiction and romance novels are always popular.
"When I see people looking for books, I have a little chat and try to see what they like and if I can find something in my ever-increasing bookcase for the library. One gentleman wanted war history — that was a bit of a challenge to meet."
A recent highlight was overhearing a prospective buyer at a nearby open home discussing the area and saying "it even has one of those cool little libraries".
"Frequently we find a bag or box of books at the front door from some anonymous donor. A local family kindly gave us a huge supply of fantastic children’s books. I shared some of these with a specialist children’s Lilliput Library in Luggate, located in their new children’s playground.
"Our daughter bought me for Christmas an embossing stamp with gold labels. Having the books stamped has reduced the books completely disappearing as has happened in the past."
There have been other benefits of looking after a community library. The Chronicans are also leading the way with Arnison’s seed-pod initiative.
"She offered me the opportunity to have the first pod alongside my library. It’s a seed-sharing system. Ruth saves seeds and shares these from her supplies and I try to keep it supplied with my own and seeds from friends. My flowers and vegetables are frequently left to go to seed for supplies.
"Sometimes it’s so popular I can’t keep up with demand. Being close to native bush I’ve given instructions on growing kōwhai plants and suggested it as a good school holiday activity for local children."
No. 384 guardian Jan Strijker, Whangaparāoa: "A highlight was this past summer that the local early learning centre started to use it for one of their outings regularly. They stop; the teachers pick a book and read them a story."
No. 369 guardian Melanie Macgowan, Lorneville: "First it was predominantly women who stopped. Now I see people of all ages, men and women alike, even tradies stop in their vans on the way past to grab a book. The best bit — my husband is now a reader as well!"
No. 380 guardians, South Dunedin Community Network: "The joy of being one of the Guardians of our Lilliput Library is seeing what a central point it is for our community. On a sunny day, some people take a book out and sit on the bench next to it to have a read."
No.3 51 guardian Ann Chapman, Ōtaki: "I first knew I was on to a winner when I saw a toddler stretching up to put a book in my library."
No. 348 guardian Maree Haggety, Otatara: "My little library has been so well received by the community — some locals stop by several times a week as part of their ‘walk around the block’."
No. 367 guardian Claire Stewart, Dunedin: "I installed our library primarily for my elderly father who lives with me. He loves reading and our library means he can access a variety of books just by walking to the front gate."
No. 270 guardian Kay Solomon, Mosgiel: "Whether people are browsing, taking a book, or leaving one behind, every interaction makes my heart smile!"
No. 393 guardian Meredith Hutcheon, Roxburgh, who looks after the first of 10 libraries given away to celebrate the 10th birthday: "Our library is now outside Fresh Choice Roxburgh. The feedback has been so positive, with lots of supportive comments, and locals wanting to donate books."
Out at the Taieri Blokes Shed in Mosgiel, Nick Wilson has been part of the team building the libraries in recent years.
The job was then taken on by Wilson and colleagues, though another group were involved for a while, she says.
"Some of the guys at the Milburn corrections facility built me about 20, as part of the qualification they were doing. But I didn’t continue with the prison because it was quite a hassle for me to go down there and go through all the protocols and pick them up.
"I did that once and then thought it was easier to just pop out to the Taieri or say to people, go and talk to the guys yourself."
Wilson says the group has now made more than 300 libraries to the same pattern and 10 seed-exchange boxes, plus a few special designs for schools and clubs.
"We make them from 17mm tanalised ply, with a perspex window in the door. The time to make one varies depending on who makes them, but we cut three out at a time and then assemble them as needed.
"About half of us use the libraries and one guy has two libraries on his fence — one for adults and one for children’s books."
The Lilliput Library that stands out as special to Wilson is the one on the Otago Peninsula at Pukehiki, made to look like the real library behind it.
Artist Sheryl McCammon, who uses the libraries herself, has painted about 10 of them, including No. 1.
"It took ages to figure out what to put on it, because as an artist used to painting on canvas, I now had four sides and a roof to paint, so it was a chance to experiment.
"My favourite ones have been the ‘sweet’ one at the top of Merchiston St, where I painted all my favs — choc fish, liquorice allsorts and jelly beans — and the ‘bee’ Lilliput inspired by a poem by James K. Baxter. I also put the poem on the Lilliput too.
"A Lilliput can take many hours of work, but I enjoyed each and every one I have done — the last one to date being redoing the very first one, as it unfortunately had a leak and the books were getting a tad wet. I made it extra special as it was our 10th birthday month and so I painted children’s classics and adult classics from over the years."
Arnison says if she’d known it would get to 400 she’d "have run a mile".
"I remember my neighbour, just before he died, he said, ‘Ruth, you’ve got 60 now, I think it’s about time you stopped, girl’. And now I think, ‘oh honey, if only you knew now how many we have’."
While it’s up to each guardian which books they stock, Arnison sometimes gets calls asking if she can put a box together. She has a whole room full of books at home.
"Some books you just don’t want — you don’t want a manual on psychology in your Lilliput Library. But as well as fiction, non-fiction travel and biographies go well. But I don’t want specialised subjects — that’s when you’d go to the public library and really do research on your subject.
"We do not want Fifty Shades of Grey anymore. We must have had 80 copies gifted to us. And if it’s a really good book, I think it’s my duty to read it and make sure it’s OK."
And was that the case with Fifty Shades of Grey?
Arnison laughs.
"Ah, well done you! But no, I’ve never read it."
