There's a TARDIS, a couple of fridges and more than few utterly cute tiny cottages on poles - free street libraries are branching out all over Canberra.
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They are tiny libraries in neighbourhoods for people to give and take books for free.
While the libraries spring up organically, there is some organisation to them.
Street Library Australia registers each library and maps them so you can find them easily.
Founder Nic Lowe said there were more than 400 registered Street Libraries in Australia.
"We estimate there is a total of 550 in Australia, which include unregistered ones," he said.
"Our goal is to increase the number of registered libraries to 500 by November, 2018 and to 5000 by the end of 2020."
There are 10 registered street libraries in the ACT and two in Queanbeyan.
And with some lazy, beach-time reading ahead for many Canberrans, it's good to know there are two street libraries registered on the South Coast - at South Coast Hyundai in Batemans Bay and near the IGA at Malua Bay. (We can also vouch for an unregistered one at Mossy Point near the Muffin Shop.)
The TARDIS street library is in Maurice Place, Garran, the brainchild of Lisa Wylde and her daughters Zoe Ramshaw, 16, and Tahlia Ramshaw, 13.
They are all big fans of Dr Who and were inspired by one of his quotes: "Every book is like a TARDIS, innocuous on the outside, bigger on the inside and able to transport you through time and space".
The family concurred with: "Come visit our library to be transported".
Ms Wylde said the family moved into the street in July and created the TARDIS library in September.
"I have now met all my neighbours. They all come out and say what a great idea it is," she said.
"There are a lot of older people in the street who look after their grandchildren and they like to come over and borrow something."
And there is a certain civility to a street library.
Ashton Calvert Community Library is a converted fridge in Ashton Calvert Street in Casey, which also has a dog bowl installed.
" Please feel free to let you dog/s have a drink, while you select a book or two," it says.
George, who often pads down the driveway to see what new books have been put in for some bedtime stories, reckons "reading is their superpower".
"And he's right," dad Billy said. "You can do so many things when you can read."
The registered street libraries in Canberra are at:
1. 16 Hargraves Cres, Ainslie
2. 11 Foxall Street, Holder
3. The Ginninderra Girl Guides lin Walhallow St, Hawker
4. 26 Ashton Calvert Street, Casey
5. The Red Fridge 42 Molesworth Street, Watson
6. 5 Philp Place,Curtin
7. 6 Cockburn St, Canberra
8. 14 Kitchener Street, Hughes
9. 126B Carnegie Crescent,Griffith
10. 14 Maurice Place, Garran
The two in Queanbeyan are at:
1. 36 Crawford Street
2. 14 Crest Park Parade
More details at: streetlibrary.org.au
