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If you enjoy reading, consider a visit to the San Pablo de Buceite Book Swap where you will find a selection of more than 6,000 used books. The village can be found in Cádiz province, between Jimena de la Frontera and Gaucin (Malaga province).
The Book Swap grew out of a “rastro” (rummage sale) fundraiser that took place in 2020, the aim of which was to support the newly created public library in the village of 1,800 inhabitants. “Actividades Lucerna” or community cultural activities were planned to help bring the library alive.
The name “Lucerna” is after a Visigothic era bronze oil lamp found nearby in the 1950s and which has been adopted as the symbol of the village. Local resident Chari González came up with the idea of using the Lucerna theme, arguing that using a name that everyone in town knew would help publicise its events. She recruited a talented 12-year-old artist from her family to design a modernised version of the ancient Lucerna with a book in hand.
It was a purely volunteer endeavour born of a common interest to support reading and making books freely available.
Luis Alberto Piña, the local librarian and published poet, helps identify books that are requested by children using the public library. The public library “Maria Moliner” then receives many books either donated or purchased with rastro funds.
A committee oversees efforts that have seen more than one hundred people donate items to the rastro to be sold at rock bottom prices, raising almost 2,000 euros.
Some of the key volunteers include Chari González, Luis Alberto Piña, Beli Rueda, Ramón Prieto, Inma Rueda, Ana Romero, Louie Castle and Ingrid Knutson. The town hall provided space at no charge.
During the worst of the pandemic, some planned activities were deferred or revamped. Nevertheless, many have gone ahead, including language classes for newcomers, smartphone clinics for seniors and a Chinese calligraphy workshop organised by a Taiwanese resident teacher, Minlin Lee. For Christmas, 2020, author Elsa Punset donated books as prizes to the students of the Colegio Cristo Rey who participated with their drawings of the Lucerna.
Throughout the year a Book Swap or “intercambio de libros” grew with more than 6,000 books received from novels to history, biography and more. There are mostly English books but with a significant Spanish collection and some French and German books too. People have come from Serranía de Ronda and the coast Saturday mornings or by appointment to pick up free books and drop off a few too. The book swap is located in front of the Ruiz Galan supermarket.
Ingrid Knutson and Louie Castle are on hand at the Book Swap every Saturday morning from (12noon – 2pm) to help people look for their favourite authors or suggest new ones.
