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Start an Apartment Community Library
An apartment community brings together a lot of people with many shared interests. If one of yours is to read a lot of books, you might consider creating a lending library for all the members of your apartment community to share. We’ll give you some ideas.
Where to house it?
Your pursuit of a lending library in your apartment community begins with a conversation with your landlord or manager. Find out if there is a good communal space to locate the library, such as in a club house, common room or lounge. If you are willing to manage the details, your apartment manager may likely be happy to assist you in setting up space for an amenity that will benefit tenants.
Gather your inventory
Once you secure a space, the next step is to find books for your library. You may have contributions to add to the collection, but you will also want to get the word out to friends and neighbors in the community.
Stocking your library is a great way to meet people and make friends. You can do your search for inventory personally, door to door, or post a notice and an empty box in an obvious (and landlord-approved) spot. Many apartment communities have an electronic newsletter or forum for residents to share information that you could use to notify neighbors of your plans and request books and movies for the library. (Keep in mind that, beyond printed books, your library could include DVDs, CDs and books on tape.)
Create a system
No lending library will work effectively without at least a simple system to keep track of who has borrowed which books. A do-it-yourself check-out and return “honor system” should do the trick. Use a pad of paper or binder that asks participants to leave the name of the title they borrowed, their name and the date borrowed. You might ask participants to plan to read and return their selections within a reasonable amount of time — say, two weeks.
Even though your in-house lending library likely won’t rival the one downtown in selection, having an apartment library can build a sense of community with free, fun, and meaningful contact with your apartment neighbors. Talking about books is a great ice-breaker — everyone wants to offer their opinions. You might even decide to start a book club centered around books from your apartment library collection.
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