READ ALL ABOUT IT - CLEETHORPES' GERMAN TWIN TOWN'S 'NOVEL' USE OF UK PHONE BOXES

 

Give and take - one of the converted kiosks

BRITISH telephone phone boxes that were donated to Cleethorpes’ twin town, Königswinter, many years ago have been transformed into mini libraries.

Traces of our resort are scattered throughout the German town in the form of three ‘phone box libraries’.

Since the 1980s, people in Königswinter could make their phone calls in these authentic red phone boxes donated by the old Cleethorpes Borough Council.

But with the ever-increasing use of mobile phones, the number of calls made from public phone boxes plummeted. 

Rather than allowing them to stand idle - or be scrapped - the kiosks were converted.

Under the principle of Give and Take, anyone is now invited to take a book from the shelves of these public bookcases, or to leave one.

Unlike libraries in North East Lincolnshire, these are open 365 days a year, 24-hours a day, and they have no fees or due dates.

The phone box libraries are lovingly looked after by  volunteers. 

The books offered on their  shelves range from novels to cooking books, from biographies to poetry, even some titles written in English.

Says Königswinter’s mayor Peter Wirtz said: “These three red beacons will always be a sign of friendship between our town and Cleethorpes."

Says his counterpart, the mayor of North East Lincolnshire, Cllr Terry Walker, said: “ I’m thrilled that a little bit of North East Lincolnshire sits in the town of Königswinter."

                                                                   

Standing in the market place of the old town, this phone-library has views across the Rhine