This humble outdoor home for gardening and cooking books has the capacity to empower a community.
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The brightly coloured mini wooden house is Ballarat's newest street library.
Unlike a traditional library, there is no official check in or check out system.
Community members can take books they would like to read and drop off those they no longer need at any time to the free neighbourhood library.
The educational addition to the Food is Free Laneway is part of a growing movement of street libraries around the world.
Six street libraries are registered in Ballarat.
Others popping up in neighborhoods around the city are becoming unofficial meeting places and knowledge sharing hubs.
Most have a broad range of adult and children's books, while the Food is Free library is dedicated to cooking, gardening and self-sufficiency books.
Food is Free founder Lou Ridsdale said while the library could empower community with access to information, it also provided an outlet to re-use and share books that would otherwise end up in the bin.
"People who come to the laneway can pick up a pot, a free seed or seedling, fresh produce and can now pick up a book that tells them how to garden or cook with the produce," she said.
"It is a small gesture, a metre by metre and a half house, but taking resources for free will empower people to learn new skills.
"That is what Food if Free is all about. Small gestures that impact in a big way."
The Food is Free street library will complement education workshops that are set to begin at the Western Oval Green Space this year.
It is a small gesture, but taking resources for free will empower people to learn new skills.
- Lou Ridsdale, Food is Free
Ms Ridsdale said one of Food is Free's aims was to show how easy it could be to garden.
"If you have not gardened before it can be really overwhelming because there are so many things to learn. Quite often that prevents people from starting a garden in the first place," she said.
"But one of our key tips at Food is Free is just start and then you learn as you progress."
Ms Ridsdale said she hoped people passing by on their neighbourhood walk would find a new and enticing book each week.
Six street libraries are registered in Ballarat at 7 Bray Street Sebastopol, 609 Drummond Street South Redan, 224 Raglan St South Ballarat, 3 Lexton Street Lake Wendouree, 1009 Lydiard Street North Ballarat and 265 Ralston Road Glen Park.
There is an estimated 1200 street libraries in Australia, with an aim to get to 5000 by 2021.
Visit streetlibrary.org.au for more information.
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