Penguin Books celebrates 90th anniversary by installing 90 ‘Little Book Stops’ across UK, including in Claypole near Grantham

A Little Book Stop has been installed in the county as Penguin Books celebrates its 90th birthday.

Penguin Books is installing 90 ‘Little Book Stops’ in towns and villages. Also known as community bookshelves, they are places where residents exchange books for free and spread the love of reading.

Organised by Penguin to mark nine decades of business, in partnership with the non-profit Little Free Library, each book stop is looked after by a volunteer who will keep the space tidy and well stocked.

Claypole, near Grantham, has been chosen as one of the 90 lucky locations, out of over 2,000 applications.

The book stop is located next to the bus shelter at Claypole Village Hall, in Main Street, and is stocked with a range of books suitable for different ages.

The first lot of 25 books have been donated by Penguin to get the initiative started, but residents are free to take a book and leave another in exchange.

Current works available to read include classics such as the Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, and modern bestsellers such as Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club.

In a message, left by the Claypole’s anonymous Little Book Stop steward, they said: “I hope to share my love of books with everyone in our beautiful village, both young and old and allow everyone free access to books.

“We will have a place to swap and chat about books that we love that have enriched our lives.”