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It was the beginning of 2015 and I had been living in my apartment for a year and a half. I live in a 10-floor building, with 40 apartments and I didn’t get to meet more than 4 or 5 of my neighbours. I decided that I had to do something about it, so I started the neighbours’ library.

I took 40 books from my own library and put them on the mail boxes. I put a sign saying “The neighbours’ library – take a book and leave another in exchange”. Also, I made a list of the books I was only willing to lend. Those were books that I I didn’t want to lose, but I was OK with lending them.

My neighbours liked the idea very much and some of them also donated books. Other people started to make their own neighbours’ libraries in other parts of Cluj-Napoca and even in other cities in Romania. Thanks to Bookface, our campaign that promotes reading, we also made free little libraries in a park. It is a simple idea and everybody can start a similar library!

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Living in a 40-apartment building, I barely knew my neighbours, so I started the neighbours’ library

I took 40 books from my own library, one for each apartment, and put them on the mail boxes

I also put a sign saying “The neighbours’ library – take a book and leave another in exchange”

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I offered books that I liked because I believe that the books we read tell more about us than the clothes we wear or the cars we drive

My neighbours liked the idea very much and some of them also donated books

Other people started to make their own neighbours’ libraries in other parts of Cluj-Napoca and even in other cities in Romania

We are so used to borrowing a cup of sugar from our neighbours, why not borrow some books instead?