Take a book and leave another: it is the spirit of the small street libraries that the five small houses that the Municipality of Villafranca is setting up for the town cannot escape.
The first, yellow in color, has already been placed in the historic center, in front of the former church of San Giovanni, the headquarters of Progetto Futuro Musica, frequented by young people and not far from schools.
The other four will operate at Parco Valentino, near the railway station and in the hamlets of Sant'Antonio and San Grato. Connected benches will invite you to read outdoors or to choose an unhurried volume to take home.
Equipped with counters, the small circular libraries each contain from 20 to 25 free titles, of different genres and for readers of all ages, drawn from the great patrimony of the “Paolo Luotto” Civic Library (overall about eight thousand titles).
“This project - underlines the Mayor Anna Macchia - is part of the actions to encourage reading, making the activity of the library even more widespread. The success of the initiative will lie not only in the ability of the Municipality to make the houses work, renewing the offer but also in the civic sense of every citizen, called to correctly manage the service and respect the rules”.
Delfina Noto, Councilor for Culture, took care of the latter, summarized in a laminated sheet affixed to the reading points: “It is essential - she remembers - that the books are treated with care and that the donated ones are in good condition. The word commitment will not only call for the responsibility of users, but also marked the implementation phase of the project: the houses, in fact, were built by the municipal roadmen, assembling recycled materials”.
The gift of volumes by readers will exclude school books, while all other genres will be welcome.
In the photo: The first house with the mayor and councilor for culture
Villafranca d'Asti, 3 June 2023
Source: press release from the Municipality of Villafranca d'Asti
