Books are rare items to find on trams and trains. Hayley Peppin writes about a new initiative called Books on the Rail, proving that Melburnians are “all aboard”.
A couple of months ago, my boyfriend and I were sitting on the Platform 1 train from Glenferrie Station to the city. It seemed like your average train ride with everyone in their technological bubble. It wasn’t until we were about to disembark that something caught our eyes. The lady who was previously sitting opposite us had left a reminder of her presence behind. A book. How peculiar, I thought. Before we could further contemplate the mysteriousness of it all, the doors to Flinders Street Station opened.
It later turned out, it was meant to be left there all along.
“There’s something so visceral about holding a book,” says 27- year-old, Media and Literature Student, Jennifer Purcell.
Physical books are symbolic of journeys… “Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home,” said Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, Anna Quindlen. They can be like an old friend. Purcell says she treats reading as a form of therapy, as it gives her greater empathy as a person by stepping into another person’s world.
Like our own journeys, books’ undertake their own.
This is a how a novel idea by two young Melburnians was conceived, known as “Books on the Rail”.
Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus are both native Melbourne girls, who earlier this year decided to change the way Melburnians commute… with a little help from the United Kingdom. Flashback to a couple of years ago, a younger Berg was working in London at advertising agency, Leo Burnett, where she met Holly Belton, founder of Books on the Underground.
Books on the Underground was a concept designed to share the love of reading among commuters, where Belton and publishers began distributing books on British public transport. A curious idea, Berg began imagining how different things would be if something similar happened in Australia. Turns out… it wouldn’t be that different at all.
“I thought it was a very Melbourne idea, so I brought it here at the start of this year and it really hit off,” said Berg.
Melbourne is known as the “City of Literature”.
In 2008, Melbourne joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, where it became the second city in the world and only Australian city to be given this title. Melburnians consume more books, magazines and newspapers per capita than any other city in Australia and has the highest concentration of community book clubs in the country.
“Melbourne is all about new, trendy and exciting things, especially in ways of getting the community involved, so this is such an exciting initiative,” said Berg.
RMIT Creative Writing lecturer, Dr Bonny Cassidy, believes the Victorian Government has cultivated support for boutique, handmade and grassroots culture. It’s embodied in Melbourne’s European-esque enclaves, filled with miniature eateries and stores (or what us Aussies call – the laneways), markets, bars, street art, covert book nooks and library initiatives.
“The population’s response to localised initiatives, like Books on the Rail, is naturally receptive, as it’s seen as ‘the kind of thing we like’,” said Cassidy.
Having a bit of a slow start to begin with, three months ago, Berg and Kalus began distributing their own revered books and those bought from second hand stores, on public transport to see if it would go anywhere. Little did they know that down the track, a book would be sighted in Toowoomba. After posting on social media about their concept, publishers took notice and began sending the girls boxes of books everyday, some of which were early releases. Then in September, the media found out and it’s been a full-scale storm ever since.
“When the media took notice of us, people from the Huffington Post, The Age and Triple J began calling up and even Amy Poehler tweeted about us,” said Berg.
Since the media attention, more than five hundred “book ninjas” (the name Berg and Kalus call their little bookworms), have registered to buy stickers and join the movement. So, no, you cannot just leave books on trains and be part of Books on the Rail. It does come with a slight cost. Beginning at about the price of a deconstructed soy latte in Melbourne, yet guilt-free (Books on the Rail is non-for-profit), $8 gets the avid reader six “book ninja” stickers reading “take me home, read me, and then put me back for someone else to enjoy”. Plus, your standard “how-to-guide” … just in case you forget the aim of the game.
“The point is to just put the stickers on a book that you love and want to share with the world or a book that you didn’t like so much and want to give other people a chance to read,” said Berg.
Owing a lot of their success to social media, Berg and Kalus now have a large and growing fan base with nearly 4000 Instagram followers and 1400 Facebook likes. Just as they had yearned for. Berg explains that unlike Books on the Underground, they wanted the Australian community to drive the initiative, rather than it be purely run by them.
“It’s really great, especially on social media where people are posting that they dropped a certain book and then others are posting to say they found it and then these people are making friends with each other,” said Berg.
One person who counts herself as an early follower, Jennifer Purcell from the Lilydale line, says she found out about the initiative through publishing houses on Twitter. Now, she’s posting about her own “book ninja” adventures.
Her favourite part of the whole experience is being able to share books that she loves with fellow commuters. Notable drop-offs of books included Rainbow Rowell’s YA novel, Eleanor and Park, and Alain de Botton’s, The Course of Love. She feels such books could have an effect on people.
“I always have books that I’m dying to recommend to people, which had an impact on me and this seemed like good way to share the love, even if it was with strangers,” said Purcell.
That’s the beauty of Books on the Rail, being able to inspire people to read a book that means something to you.
Berg said that during her own travels on public transport, she’s come across a new favourite book, The Hate Race, by Maxine Beneba Clarke. The Hate Race is an auto-biographical book based on growing up and experiencing racism in Australia, a genre, which Berg never opts to read.
“Books on the Rail introduces you to other genres, so you can really fall in love with a type of book you weren’t so interested in before,” said Berg.
Just recently, Books on the Rail went nation-wide.
Nearly all the capital cities are involved and regional towns are participating as well. RMIT Creative Writing lecturer, Dr Bonny Cassidy, believes this national movement is somewhat due to the nature of spending today, as books at retail price are now far more expensive. People no longer want to fork out money on treasured items like books, and instead, prefer to use such disposable income to eat out or buy new clothes.
“Why not swap/exchange, instead of fork out and keep, we do it all the time with clothes now, places like Savers and recycle boutiques are hugely popular,” said Dr Cassidy.
In the world of “Rory Gilmore’s” (character in Gilmore Girls who compulsively obsesses over books) this initiative seems like a book lovers dream come true. But what about Melbourne Metro and Yarra Trams, how do they feel about their transport being taken advantage of? According to Metro spokesperson, Marcus Williams, the girls have gotten the tick of approval.
“This is an example of a positive community initiative and one that we admire. We have briefed our cleaning staff to ensure that the books are not confused with rubbish or lost property,” said Williams.
So how often does a commuter or “book ninja” find a golden ticket in their Wonka bar? According to Purcell, not that often, or at all… just yet. As a daily commuter, Purcell keeps her eyes wide open in the hope that she one day stumbles across her own little gem. Berg and Kalus do have a solution for this. They’re currently in the process of making an app for “book ninjas” to use as a means of tracking a book’s journey. The only way now to follow a book is through social media posts.
When asked about whether this initiative could change the way they commute, Purcell said she always has a book on hand during her travels. Instead, she wants to motivate others to disconnect from technology and become more self-aware of the world around them through engaging with people and reading.
“My aim is to encourage others to get off their mobile devices and absorb in books, as I believe they enable people to become more imaginative and conversational,” said Purcell.
When you consider that in 2014, one in six people were using mass transit for daily commuting with a projected 30 per cent growth by 2030, it begs to question what Australian commuters are going to look like in 15 years?
Currently, we sit in isolation with one another. Earphones in. Heads down. Mesmerised by our phones.
Well, if today is any sign of what the future is going to look like, it seems pretty bleak and lonely.
Just imagine if mobile devices were replaced with books… Books on the Rail books. Dr Cassidy believes it not only would encourage people to see reading as a daily hobby, it could build empathy and conversation, as commuters could share with one another what they’re reading.
So take a journey with a book.
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