Rebecca Toh shares how she accidentally became the founder of Casual Poet Library, and how the literary sanctuary is a “Reflection” of the community that helped to build it.
About the speaker
Rebecca is a photographer and the accidental founder of Casual Poet Library, a community-funded shared library situated in the heartlands of Singapore. Each of the library's 180 shelves is rented by a different individual; on each shelf, bookshelf-owners share about themselves and their book recommendations via little note cards, and tend to their shelves like they are tending to a (book) garden. A roster of volunteer librarians take turns to keep the space open. The library is open to everyone and all books are for people to browse and borrow.
What started as a project about building a space for books became an unexpected adventure in building community and connections — Casual Poet Library began its life as a single tentative post on Instagram and became a reality in just three months, powered by a large group of passionate supporters who rolled up their sleeves and offered their time, skills and gifts, in whatever form they could afford.
Rebecca sees the huge potential our world has for healing, growth and connection, but to create a new world requires new ways of being. The library hopes to become a space where time can be felt differently, where people can come together to share rather than hoard, and where individuals are invited to gently reimagine new possibilities. In this way, we get to create the world we want to live in.
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