Скачать или смотреть Libraries Unlimited pop up library concept and set up on Exeter High Street 2022

Installation in old GAP store brings art, activities and books.

A break-out initiative to bring library services and creativity directly to people on the high street has been pioneered by Libraries Unlimited in Exeter.

The former GAP store was transformed into an art studio in which local sculptor James Lake created a life-size cardboard tree. The tree is now installed in Barnstaple Library.

While the sculpture was being created, the shop became an interactive public space, and passers-by dropped in to watch James at work and take part in a variety of drop-in workshops and exhibitions. There was also a pop-up high street library for people to sign up to the library, browse and borrow books.

Other activities included street performers, and a range of workshops including crafts, zine-making, virtual reality, half term events, storytelling and plenty of family activities.

We hosted free sessions with staff from our Exeter Business & IP Centre for people who are starting or growing their own businesses.

The cardboard tree sculpture now takes its place at the heart of Barnstaple Library for people to see. People will be able to gather, meet, browse books and read beneath its canopy. Decorated to reflect the cyclical nature of the seasons, it will show the evolving role of the library as it becomes inhabited by different community groups.

Artist James Lake works primarily in cardboard, which he values for its immediacy and relatively low environmental impact, producing life-sized renditions of people, animals and sometimes furniture and other large objects. He developed his method as a teenager while confined to bed recovering from an operation to amputate his right leg after he developed cancer. James’ work is created in pieces and put together like a giant jigsaw puzzle, adding a problem-solving aspect to his work that, as a person with dyslexia, he enjoys.

Find out more about The Reading Tree sculpture: librariesevolve.org.uk/projects/reading-tree

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