The Book Hibernacle
The true holy grail for Moonlight Rainbow books would be to have a bricks and mortar shop, hold events and become part of a community. A calm but cheerful sanctuary away from the real world…with beautiful books (obviously), and a lot of fairy lights…and good coffee…
…But while that may be a daydream (for now!) it is important for me that we try and be part of a community, beyond Instagram. One little step towards that is opening a Little Free Library for children at the beautiful RSPB reserve in Loch Lomond. (A favourite place and it has a great boardwalk, I love a boardwalk!)
“The Book Hibernacle” found it’s new home in the Learning Hub just before Christmas, allowing people to peruse the books without the fine Scottish weather freezing their fingers and soaking their skin. The name was influenced by Susie Dent’s ‘Roots of Happiness’ book - a fabulous read aloud book as the words are just so satisfyingly delicious to say. Hurkle durkle, clinkabell, cacklefart, and hibernacle:
‘Have you ever made a cosy den at home or in the garden - a secret place you can hide away in and feel safe and relaxed? Animals do this too, particularly in winter… The hideaway that these animals choose is known as a ‘hibernacle’, which comes from a Latin word hibemus, meaning ‘wintery’.” - Roots of Happiness: 100 Words for Joy and Hope from Britain’s Most-Loved Word Expert (S. Dent, 2023)
I am a sucker for an honesty box - the north of Scotland’s mainland and beyond into the Orkney and Shetland islands are littered with them. In Crail, there’s a very lovely honesty box at the little beach with buckets and sandcastle tools to borrow. I mean, come on. There must be an equation about the number of honesty boxes and handwritten signs an area has, the greater my love is for that place. Little Free Libraries fall into the same category. There’s something so wholesome about them. Open to everyone. Little Free Library state that their vision is to have one in every community and a book for every reader. And with more than 175,000 of them in 128 countries they’ve made a good start. They believe ‘all people are empowered when the opportunity to discover a personally relevant book to read is not limited by time, space, or privilege.’ Maybe I love them because they symbolise something that relies on truthfulness and generosity too. If the World was more like an honesty box or little free library - where strangers trust each other, share with each other - well I think the planet would be in much better shape. They represent the goodness in humans and I definitely need a dose of that! Got myself all riled up now, might need to open another one!
If it sounds like something you’d like to be involved with, it’s simple to set up and become a steward (click here to see how) Also their Instagram is addictive, libraries carved out of wood, inside a telephone box or microwave, or like mine - an old side cabinet from Gumtree that has got a new life as a wee library. Take a book. Share a book.
Follow our separate wee Instagram account for more updates on our Book Hibernacle, especially if you are in the Loch Lomond area. Well worth a stop.