MINI-LIBRARIES have started to appear in rural parishes in a bid to encourage Islanders to foster a love of reading in a cost-free and accessible way.
Both The Book Nook and The Story Shed operate a bring-and-borrow or exchange books format instead of buying new novels, hoping to encourage more children to read for pleasure and develop literacy skills.
The Book Nook is located just past Jersey Zoo on Rue de Diélament in Trinity, where books for children and adults are stocked, as well as a weekly newsletter aimed at younger Islanders.
The News and Nature Notes newsletter features resident pony, Cracker, the mascot for The Book Nook stall. Cracker focuses on what is happening in nature as the seasons turn and what children should look out for, collect, or even make.
Cate Hamilton, who started The Book Nook, said that she believed “an enthusiasm for reading is one of the most valuable gifts a child can be given”.
In an attempt to mitigate any financial costs or practicalities, she opened the mini-library to help “parents who are trying to keep up with a voracious bookworm in the family”.
“Visiting the town library is great but not always easy for busy parents trying to park and ferry children through St Helier,” she added.
“That’s basically where the mission of the Book Nook comes in: to encourage a love of reading, foster learning and discovery and to make it accessible and cost-free.”
Similarly, The Story Shed aims to also create a small, shared library for the community and a place where stories keep moving and new reads are always waiting.
If readers find themselves without a book to swap, The Story Shed allows Islanders to buy books for a small fee. Although it is not for profit and any money spent will go into funding new books or building new boxes.
While travelling to see her sister in New Zealand, Katie Topman kept spotting little book stalls everywhere, called Lilliput Libraries.
Ms Topman said: “I was inspired seeing these and thought what a good idea it was.”
She said that it has been fantastic to see the support for the idea since setting up The Story Shed.
“Originally, I had one shelf in the main box for kids’ books, however, it was so popular that I ended up making a dedicated children’s book box separate from the original box,” she said. “2026 marks the National Year for Reading, with lots of great incentives all across the UK to encourage reading.
“As a teacher, I see the decrease in both children and adults reading for pleasure. This is such a shame and so I wanted a small part in bringing joy back to reading and storytelling.”
“Reading for pleasure is so wildly important – it’s hard to stress the impacts it has on childhood development and even adult life enjoyment.”
Ms Topman is looking to expand the Story Shed project, adding “I’m starting something called The Story Shed – Book Club Picks from September. It will be a monthly book recommendation, posted on our socials, and also on a notice board at the shed.
“I will aim to choose a book that is available to borrow from the Jersey Library, leave one copy in the box, or is on a Kindle deal.”
Ms Topman also hopes to create a second Story Shed in one of the eastern parishes to improve accessibility in that part of the Island in the near future.
The next edition of JEP Junior is out on Tuesday 1 September
