I love books. I love talking about them, writing about them, buying them, seeking them out at the library, sharing them, touching them (they all feel different, trust me!), falling asleep under them, staying up all night glued to them, feeling their weight in my bag…“Wherever I lay my book, that’s my home.” That’s how the song should’ve gone. But where Marvin Gaye failed, Jess Haigh succeeds; not with a song, but with a suitcase!
Jess is the founder of Travelling Suitcase Library (which is just that!), a librarian and self-proclaimed BookElf. She both loves and lives books. I doff my cap to her, raise a glass or five to the TSL, dance the merry dance of books...and ask some questions:
AH: When did you set up Travelling Suitcase Library, and why?
JH: I set up the TSL in February 2010. Honestly? It was because I was bored, had just started a full time job that meant me giving up my pub job so was missing my friends, and because I wanted to meet more people who were also into reading and books and that. I named it the Travelling Suitcase Library because it’s in a suitcase and its a library, and, in my honest opinion, its the tweeness of the name that makes people love it.
Originally it was a suitcase full of my old books that I took to the pub on a Sunday afternoon. This evolved into a book swap and due to a little bit of marketing started being invited to various events. I also hosted a World Book Night event at Arcadia, Leeds, in March which was really successful. Now I get donated about 20 books a month on average, and go to at least three events, including the regular book swap in Arcadia. In July I was going to a different event every weekend. I've taken August off!
AH: What kind of places and spaces do you take the TSL to?
JH: So far I've been invited to local lit fests; LadyFest Ten in London, which was amazing; a couple of local arts festivals including I Love West Leeds, a music festival that unfortunately I had to cancel due to being horribly ill; a beer festival, a regular cultural night in Leeds called Bettakultcha; and loads of book clubs. I still go to the pub every month as well, and have started a book swap in local city centre bar Aglassto. Other sister-TSL's (it has had babies, which is ace!) have also gone to Hay Festival. I've also advised people about setting up TSLs across the UK, Australia and Canada.
AH: What kind of response do you get to TSL?
JH: I could literally play TSL Bingo with the phrases "what a good idea", "I've got loads of books", "I never have time to read", "oh I've read all of them", "why are you doing this?", "why don't you just sell them?" and "can I take more than one?". It’s mostly positive, though I have got into one fight about the nature of altruism - it was just after I'd read The Fountainhead though so I wasn't really in the best place for that one!
AH: Do you think the trend for 'pop up' libraries is just a fad, or does it (should it) have a future?
JH: There is a trend for pop up libraries at the moment because it’s twee, and twee is in. Seriously, people get really upset that I don't come with a vintage case decorated with frills and old luggage stickers. My case is my Gran's old one from the ‘90s that is battered, but works. Have you tried lifting a case full of books? It’s on wheels for a reason! I've even had one man complain that I'm not petite and pretty enough to get away with something that sounds as twee as the TSL does, especially considering my online name is BookElf! I'm not into the idea of doing anything for fashion and the amount of pop up libraries that have sprung up in the last couple of years makes me feel a little weary; I don't want people thinking I'm doing this because its cool, or arty, or whatever. I'm not an artist, I'm a librarian.
What worries me the most is that people will start supporting a pop up, and not a public library. Public libraries are massively under threat and I always, always, say to people, “go there first”. My entire ethos is that reading should be taken into public spheres and social places in order to get rid of the stigma that reading is uncool. I really don't want book swaps to be a middle class, arty movement that only serves a minority of the 'community'. I know I've failed massively in spreading the TSL to more venues but I work full time and it’s a hard commitment; if you are going to do something similar you need to really work hard on it, and be prepared for books to literally take over your life. That’s why I'm trying now to get people to host their own book swaps, and to donate their books to people who have none. The best thing I've done this year in my opinion isn't a book swap, it was a blog piece on the fact that 3/10 children do not have their own book, that got people to send their books to a primary school teacher in inner city Birmingham, who gave the books to the children. She said the impact was amazing, and that the children loved their books. That’s what I'd like to do more of.
Interested in finding out more, donating some books or setting up your own TSL? You can catch Jess on Twitter, over at the TSL blog, or scribbling away for For Books’ Sake and Leeds Book Club.
Jess and the TSL at the For Books' Sake Mad Hatter's Tea Party, July 2011. Photo courtesy of Sam Evaskitas
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