By Pam Kiriakidis
KILMORE residents can now borrow and swap books at Kilmore Community Garden thanks to a generous donation by Kilmore District Men’s Shed.
The little library at the front of the garden contains books for people of all ages to consider, and aims to encourage residents to take a step back and read in the community garden.
Kilmore District Men’s Shed president Paul Harvey, who has been a men’s shed member for more than two years, said he was honoured to take part of a community project that will promote reading.
Mr Harvey said the men’s shed completed many projects that helped the Kilmore community, including the little library.
“It feels great. That’s what we are for – the men’s shed is to help the community and help members,” Mr Harvey said.
“We do a lot of work for the community, and we were quite happy to do something like this. I think more people should be reading, and if you can get a book that’s free, it’s better.”
Kilmore Community Garden committee member Tina Considine was present at the installation of the library and said residents could drop by and pick up any books that they wished to read.
“They can come and pick something out they’re interested in, and they can either browse while they’re here or they take it home, and they can bring it back and swap it for something else,” she said.
“We’ll wait and see what the interest is. We’ve got access to some excellent bird books.
“I think books always have a place; you know they’ll never be superseded entirely by digital media.”
Ms Considine said she was grateful for groups like the men’s shed that donated their time towards projects that helped the community garden become more visible to Kilmore residents.
“It’s great to have all these connections, and they’re a really good resource,” she said.
“What we’re trying to achieve in this space is not just gardening but a space for the community, so we’re looking at different aspects of use of the space.
“We’re trying to be visible and get people to come and see that this their community space.”
Land for a community garden was allocated next to Kilmore’s Anglican Church several years ago, creating relationships with families and residents.
Ms Considine said the garden was looking to improve its amenities through more collaborations with the Men’s Shed Association.
“The men’s shed is going to build us a few extra garden beds,” she said.
“We’ll work on having a whole range of different kinds of beds, because we also want to have wheelchair access.”
