Villagers get a new library - in a phone box

The inside of the kiosk, in Main Street, Stathern, now has shelves and dozens of books for the use of local people.

Money to convert the old phone box was donated from funds raised at the last Stathern Festival in 2015, following a public vote.

Local handyman Colin Ramsey was commissioned to do the work and villagers clearly love it.

The job wasn’t easy since the inside was in a bad state of repair and was leaking so Mr Ramsey had to wait for a dry spell to complete the work.

Sally Fagan, who ran the festival for a decade, said: “I had seen they had done this in other places and thought it would be a good use of the box.

“If they are not used, BT come and take them away.

“They are iconic and it takes something away when the phone box goes so it is great that we can keep using it in this way.”

Users of the phone box merely go in through the unlocked door, choose a book and opt to either bring it back or replace it with another one.

There is no charge for the library service but people are asked to make a note inside of which book they have borrowed or replaced.

Mrs Fagan said: “We have had lots of donations of books.

“We’ve got books in lots of different categories, such as biographies, romance, historical and autobiographies.

“It is aimed at people who read for leisure, those who are looking to fill their time during the day and who like reading.”

She added: “When we held the vote for what to do with the festival money this was the overwhelming winner and people are using it.”

Villager Aisling Giltinan (11) was one of the first to use it.

She said: “Books are awesome. Jacqueline Wilson is one of my favourite authors and I also like the Otter Line and the Goth Girl series.”