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Melissa Forbes just wanted to share some books with her neighbours. Little did she know her upcycled street library would be deemed “illegal”.
“Honestly, it’s hilarious,” she told this masthead in relation to her being the owner of one of Australia’s most infamous street libraries.
Melissa Forbes’ ‘illegal’ book box in Moreton Bay.Credit: Melissa Forbes
In January, Forbes erected a book nook on the grass in front of her house, encouraging locals and passersby to “give a book, take a book”. But it didn’t take long for a complaint to be lodged with Moreton Bay Council. A knock at the door then alerted her to the “illegal book box” she had set up in the suburb of Clontarf.
“I set out to share some books with my neighbours, maybe help someone discover a new favourite read,” she said. “I never imagined I’d end up as ‘the woman with the illegal book box’.”
She was told that to keep the street library open, she needed to apply for a permit and obtain $20 million public liability insurance if the permit was approved. She complied with the first request, but her application was denied.
“I was a little surprised at the level of bureaucracy required,” Forbes said.
A Moreton Bay Council spokesperson told this masthead street libraries were a great asset to the community, but this specific book box had unfortunately “been constructed in line with a bus shelter and footpath obstructing people’s movements and impacting public safety”.
The original book box set up in front of Melissa Forbes’ home.Credit: Melissa Forbes
Forbes understood the book box was installed on council land – as many were around Moreton Bay and the greater Brisbane region – and she reached out to her community to provide an update.
“I understand these rules are put in place [for] a reason to prevent unsafe or obstructive structures, but it did feel like a well-intentioned rule gone wrong in this case. It’s hard to develop community culture when things like this happen,” she said.
The people of Clontarf rallied around Forbes and her book nook. Letters were written, and an online petition was launched.
“It was genuinely moving,” she told this masthead.
“A friend set up a petition and within days I had hundreds of messages and signatures from all over the Redcliffe Peninsula. Our local councillor even came to check it out himself and agreed it wasn’t doing any harm.”
Messages arrived from supporters as far away as the UK, the US and even Serbia.
“People really do care about small, joyful community things. They want to be part of something positive. When you give the community a reason to show up, they really do,” Forbes said.
Seven months later, the book nook was thriving, albeit positioned further back than its original location and fixed to her fence to comply with council standards. As a result of her faux pas, Forbes had successfully mobilised the community she initially set out to foster.
The library has also had a rebrand, now with “illegal book box” painted on the side.
“We are pleased the library was moved closer to the fence line as council suggested so as not to impede access and can continue to be enjoyed by the community,” the council spokesperson said.
Following the development, Forbes said she “made my peace with being a reformed outlaw”.
“And our local councillor has also advocated for fact sheets around the installation of street libraries for the future, so hopefully the next person won’t have to navigate the same issue,” she said.
For Forbes, the biggest surprise to emerge from this debacle was seeing how much people cared, and she believed it helped spark a bigger conversation around “what kind of communities we want to build”.
Her advice for anyone wanting to set up a street library in front of their home was simple – “check your local council laws first”.
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