Residents in Westmeath have something better than a library. They have The Book Shrub, which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
This 24-hour library is located in front of Westmeath Public School and has been there since early fall.
Westmeath principal Debra Metzger said the idea is that people are encouraged to take a book and leave a book. The person can either bring the same book back and exchange for another book, or bring a different book for exchange.
The Book Shrub looks like a toy house sitting on a pole with a glass door. The shrubs, created as a shop class project at Mackenzie Community School in Deep River, were distributed throughout Renfrew County, she said. To seed it for the first time, donated books were used, she said.
The idea is that books for reading will be available for everyone, Ms. Metzger said.
“It’s always open,” she said.
