Disused bus stop in Northamptonshire village turned into library for whole community

A bus stop that is no longer used in a Northamptonshire village has been turned into a community library, thanks to the creativity of one man.

Ben de Boer, who lives in Hackleton, came up with the idea to use the bus stop when he saw something similar being done down the road.

The 25-year-old wanted other people in his community to make use of things he no longer needed, especially during lockdown.

Ben’s mum, Debbie de Boer, said: “We went out for a drive with Ben as he is self isolating and it’s awful for him being indoors.

“He saw a bus stop in Roade doing a similar thing and he said why can’t I do something like that.

“And I just said there’s no reason why you can’t.

“I thought that was that, but when we got home he went up to his room and started sorting out old DVDs and put an ad on Facebook about what he was going to do.

“He set up a little community library in the disused bus stop and people started to donate jigsaws, books and DVDs.”

Two weeks on and Ben’s bus stop idea has been warmly received by the whole community as there are more than 100 books in the shelter at the unused bus stop in Main Road, Hackleton.

Debbie added: “People are dropping off on a daily basis and there’s a pulling bit for the bus stop so they’re doing it safely.

“We’ve had a lot of positive feedback, people saying it’s a really nice, positive thing to do.

“The elderly in the village have no library access or nothing coming to the village, and the children get to use it too.

“It’s great to put something back in the community since the bus services have been taken away, so it’s there for the village.

“As Ben says we throw a lot away, we all have 200 plus DVDs that we don’t watch. We all stream now instead.

“But a lot of other people do still sit down to watch a DVD, so why waste ours?

“We should be letting other people use what we don’t use.”

The Parish Council is also supporting the idea and are looking at ways they can support Ben.

“The Parish Council have adopted the idea and are planning ways to make it a permanent fixture,” Debbie added.

“Hopefully we will get the bus stop painted and get a mural painted in there too to make it a great little thing for the village.

“Ben is really proud of himself. When we see it, he says ‘mum, look there’s more stuff in there’. It’s such a nice thing to see.

“With what’s going on at the moment, Ben has managed to turn this into a big positive.”

A spokeswoman for Hackleton Parish Council added: "The Parish Council is delighted with the initiative Ben has shown in making a very positive contribution to our community during these very difficult times.

"His idea and how the Parish Council can support it going forward will be discussed at our next full Parish Council meeting on June 2, 2020. "

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