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Calais refugee library flooded with thousands of books Calais refugee library flooded with thousands of books
(about 2 hours later)
Reports of a makeshift library providing books to refugees in the Calais camp known as the Jungle have unleashed a wave of book donations. But according to its creator, the British teacher Mary Jones, Jungle Books now has “more than enough” books to go around, and organisers are now trying to redirect help to where it is most needed. The makeshift library that is providing books for refugees staying in the Calais camp known as the Jungle has got inundated with books and emails of support in the last couple of weeks, following a Guardian article about it. Jungle Books, as it is named, has now “more than enough” books to go around, and its creator, British teacher Mary Jones, is trying to redirect help to where it is most needed.
“People have been brilliant, and a lot are coming over with their cars full of things, including books,” Jones told the Guardian, but the surge of books has highlighted other needs. Jones told the Guardian that she has got thousands of books and emails: “People have been brilliant, and a lot of them are coming over with their cars full of things, including books.” While this is an extremely positive outcome, “the library is so small, and also the types of books people are looking for are not necessarily the ones people are sending,” she said, stressing that the library was most in need of books in refugees’ native languages. Publishers like Verso Books are also helping and, already, Jungle Books is in a healthy “books from floor to ceiling” situation.
“The library is so small,” Jones said, “and also the types of books people are looking for are not necessarily the ones people are sending. ” She stressed that the library was most in need of books in refugees’ native languages. But with publishers such as Verso Books also contributing, Jungle Books now has “books from floor to ceiling”, Jones continued. “It’s a shame for money to be spent on the postage for books.” At this stage, “it’s a shame for money to be spent on the postage of books,” Jones said from the ground – instead, she hopes to encourage people wanting to help to now devote those resources to more urgent priorities, mainly electricity and safe cooking equipment. This has prompted her to create a crowdfunding campaign – with a goal of £10,000, the page encourages people to make pledges starting at £10. At the moment, “as nights are soon going to start getting longer,” the priorities are generators, LED rechargeable lamps, and safe cooking equipment, with camping stoves presenting serious fire hazards, as well as the candles that many refugees are using to light their tents.
As autumn approaches, Jones has created a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for more urgent priorities, such as heat and light. With a goal of £10,000, the page encourages people to make pledges starting at £10. IA couple of laptops have proved very useful to access dictionaries in a multitude of languages, and more would be welcome, she continued. She also pointed out that refugees “walk around in flip flops, and a lot of them have no jumpers or warm jackets,” which is going to become an issue as the weather gets cooler.
Generators, LED rechargeable lamps and cooking equipment are now at the top of the list, Jones added, with camping stoves presenting serious fire hazards, as well as the candles that many refugees are using to light their tents. While small, Jungle Books is evolving quickly and becoming a community hub. “People come to me and tell me what they need,” Jones said. “This has helped me better understand what their main priorities are. You learn every day, as time goes on, what the more practical solutions are – for instance, camping gas stoves, of which we have many, are very unstable and the price of their refill is prohibitive.” The space is about to expand so that there is one area for books and another for small lessons and discussions: “we’ve already got suggestions for debates on how the communities of different nationalities can live better together, and from people wanting to explain to others about their country and why they have had to leave it.”
A couple of laptops have proved very useful to access dictionaries in a multitude of languages, and more would be welcome, she continued, but many refugees “walk around in flip flops, and a lot of them have no jumpers or warm jackets” – an issue that will become more important as the weather gets cooler.
While small, Jungle Books space is evolving quickly and becoming a community hub.
“People come to me and tell me what they need,” Jones said. “This has helped me better understand what their main priorities are. You learn every day, as time goes on, what the more practical solutions are – for instance, camping gas stoves, of which we have many, are very unstable and the price of their refill is prohibitive.”
The space is about to expand so that there is one area for books and another for small lessons and discussions, she added. “We’ve already got suggestions for debates on how the communities of different nationalities can live better together, and from people wanting to explain to others about their country and why they have had to leave it.”