By author Dianne Ellis of Wigram Road, Austinmer

Our street library is much more than a street library – it’s a community hub.

For some time, my husband John and I had been talking about having a street library out the front of their house. We wanted a library that was large enough to hold a decent number of books and one that blended in with the character of our home.

During lockdown, being an avid reader and passionate children’s book writer, I exchanged lots of good reads with neighbours. I’m sure this helped spark the idea that now would be the best time to build that street library.

John agreed and, being the handyman that he is, the project started to take shape when he came across an old paling fence being pulled down around the corner. The library box was built within a week, designed as a mini-replica of our home. John went to great lengths to weatherproof it, which has proved worthwhile given our recent inclement weather. It even boasts a hand sanitiser.

Importantly, the street library is being used.

I love seeing people use our library. It is a talking point that has led to many conversations with interesting people in our community. You’re all invited to come and share in our street library and, if John and I are out the front, stop for a chat.

Lockdown also gave me the chance to concentrate on my first children’s novel. I’ve previously published five picture books and I can’t wait for my first junior fiction novel, titled Wingdom, to be launched in the first half of 2022. 

Look out for Dianne’s next picture book titled Dabbleduck, hopefully on bookstore shelves before the end of this year. Other titles can be viewed on www.diannellisbooks.com