Imagine a place where minds are allowed to bump into each other and words come easy.
This is the story about a man named Shia Guy.
Mr. Shia Guy was a man of infinite letters, endless books and remarkably few spoken words. Every Tuesday he walks down his street to Yazan’s newspaper stand and buys the Daily. It is one of Shia Guy’s more intimate relations with people. And thou Yazan greets him with a smile every day for the last decade or so, he could not engage smalltalk, let alone ask Yazan’s name.
Some time ago Mr. Guy read about the public and stationary E-Library established in the Ramat Gan. Even though he can’t imagine reading an E-book, his vast home library and the smell of printed paper is dear to him, every Tuesday he walks the grounds of the park only to check if he has a printed copy of the books written on the public benches.
If one had asked Shia, he would have said that Tuesday was exactly like all the Tuesdays prior. And it was remarkable how he walked down the same roads to the park at the same exact time, seemingly perceiving the same faces he always did. Little did he know, on this Tuesday, someone was triggering such a strong sentiment, he took all his courage and changed his fate.
In an era of continuous digitalisation often the human vista gets lost in the process. Undoubtedly E-Books are an environmental friendly and space efficient evolution which could reshape places such as public libraries. These spaces are places of human encounter, therefore social spaces, often of a certain social stratum. The concept of the STATIONARY E-LIBRARY can be implemented on large outdoor or indoor areas, allowing people to read only certain non-downloadable books in a proximity to a certain area. While the different places all over the park are big enough to allow readers to retreat and emerge into their books, the possibility of human interaction is a chance. After all the Covid crisis impressively shows people are social beings even if some may just need a little nudge to engage others.
