A Library Made by Its Community: The Casual Poet Library

Have you ever been at a friend’s house, or even a family member, and found yourself eyeing up their bookshelves? Maybe you’ve spotted a book that’s on your tbr or your wishlist, and you’re wondering whether it’s okay to ask to borrow it?

Well, that’s kind of what Rebecca Toh, a freelance photographer turned bookstore/library owner, has done.

The Casual Poet Library opened in August 2024 in Alexandra Village, Bukit Merah. It’s what is known as a ‘community library’, and was inspired by Toh’s visits to Japan.

What Is A Community Library?

Many people may have heard of a community library before. When you think of one, a small shelf or cupboard outside a home, bus shelter or shopping mall might come to mind. These are places where people can drop off books and take one as they please, and there is no monitoring, no fines, no fees.

Whilst these are community libraries, they’re not quite what Rebecca Toh has set up. These little libraries often don’t last long. Books quite often become damaged, or the sites themselves do, causing them to fail. Sometimes, the whole stock is just stolen!

The type of community library that Rebecca Toh saw in Japan, has taken inspiration from, works slightly differently.

The Minna no Toshokan Sankaku library in Yaizu City was the original inspiration. It works like any other library, you go in, borrow a book, and return it when you’re done. Only, the books aren’t bought by the library staff. Instead, individuals can rent out bookshelves for a small cost, and supply books for members of the public to read and loan.

It sounds ridiculous, right? Why would anyone pay to lend other people their books?

Well, it works. Minna no Toshokan Sankaku opened in March 2020, and since then 50 libraries with the same structure have opened across Japan, and tourists like Rebecca Toh are spreading the idea even further!

How Does It Work?

By the book lenders paying to rent shelves, they are covering a large percentage of the store or library’s rent costs. Toh realized that this quickly lowered the risk of the whole thing, and made the idea seem increasingly possible.

At the libraries she saw, she said that the ‘librarians are all volunteers’, and that they weren’t open every day, just when people were free to run the sites.

Opening The Casual Poet Library

Rebecca knew that she wanted to bring the idea to Singapore, but there were still concerns that it wouldn’t work. The whole point of a community library, after all, is that it relies on community. If the people in Alexandra Village didn’t take to the idea, it would be over before it had even begun.

To test the waters, she posted on Instagram about the Japanese library, asking her followers whether people would take the chance to pay for a shelf in Singapore, were the opportunity to arise. Quickly, people were begging for the chance to lend out their books, and she was convinced that her idea might just work.

Wasting no time at all, she went to visit shop units that week, and within a couple of days later she had signed a lease for a space in Alexandra. The shop is next door to a cafe and a furniture store and is situated in what’s called a ‘void deck’, an open space on the ground floor of a block of flats.

Toh wanted exactly that, a space where people could easily access the library.

Did It Work?

As soon as Toh posted on social media, The Casual Poet Library was a hit. As soon as they opened, all 180 of the library’s shelves were rented out, with another 40 people eagerly waiting on a waiting list.

Not only that but there were 200 people who volunteered to work as librarians in their free time. The response was so overwhelming that Rebecca had to shut sign-ups!

When asked why she thought the whole thing worked, Toh explained that she found that a lot of the people who rented shelves had a burning passion for books, but that a lot of them also simply loved the idea of a space that wasn’t super capitalistic.

She acknowledged, even when exploring the libraries in Japan, that the whole concept is somewhat impractical, but that drew her in. Talking to CNA, she said ‘even though it’s a bit impractical, people are drawn to that impractical aspect. They like it because of that, not despite it.’

Toh went on to say that there is also a chance to express yourself within the community library. People who rent the shelves include things like handwritten notes about the titles and what they mean to them and trinkets that go along with the books they’re lending.

One of the lenders, Kevan Chew, said that the Casual Poet Library isn’t just about the books, but about the people sharing the books. He spoke about a sense of connection that people feel when they look at the shelves, and how a lot of people are searching for that exact feeling.