Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Book swaps at London tube and train stations 'a good idea', says Johnson

London mayor agrees to look into creating a network for sharing books at capital's stations in time for 2012 Olympics

Book sharing could be a common sight at tube and train stations across London next year. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian
Book swaps and book shares could be set up at tube and train stations across London in time for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Boris Johnson, the London mayor, agreed to look into the possibility of establishing a network of book swaps in the capital's 700 tube and train stations, in response to an idea put forward by Chris Gilson, a political researcher at the London School of Economics, who has already set up a pilot scheme for communal book sharing in his local station, West Ealing.
Johnson, chair of Transport for London, welcomed the suggestion presented to him at a London policy conference, though he warned that it might be difficult to get Tfl on board.
But he said he would be "thrilled" to try and develop the idea in time for the ambitious deadline of the Games next summer.
"I think it's a very good idea and would say something powerful about the kind of city we are and our commitment to literacy, which obviously we are trying to demonstrate in lots of ways particularly with young people," said Johnson.
Gilson was the winner of Ideas4Mayor – an initiative from thinktanks Centre for London and IPPR for Londoners to tweet their ideas for the mayoral candidates on how to improve life in London.
Read the rest at The Guardian.

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