Thank you Sadiq Khan, for seeing the light. Whatever your critics make of you, surely they can’t criticise you for this: stopping books being removed from tube stations.
A word of context before we begin. I know this was not on the same level as, say, Trump taking a handaxe to the US constitution, but it is also a tiny slap to the face in a world that seems depressingly full of them at the moment.
Commuting is a dull old pastime (unless you have a Standard to hand). Squashed into a metal box with thousands of people, rattling along hundreds of metres underground on screeching rails – to say nothing of the depressing, grey anonymity of rattling past platform after platform – well, it’s not anyone’s idea of fun.
But books at tube stations are one of the more heartwarming things you’ll find on that daily commute, alongside flowers and (occasionally) messages On the Board: proof that TfL staffers take pride in their workplace and want to spread a bit of joy among the people that use it.
At some stations, bookshelves have been on the go for decades, introduced by community activists and station staff on a mission to brighten the place up a bit. Need a book? Take it. Finished another book? Leave it for somebody else to enjoy. Simple.
Apparently, having piles of “combustible material” lying around the place is a hazard – despite the fact that these small sets of shelves are hardly a conflagration in waiting
Did I ever pick up a book from the pile? Not often (and even less so now that WiFi has arrived on the tube), but just seeing them was a nice injection of humanity and fellow-feeling. A friendly hand waving from the void, if you will, and a nice way to reuse books that would often end up otherwise in landfill.
The reason for their removal was what you’d expect: there’s been a fire service crackdown. Apparently, having piles of “combustible material” lying around the place is a hazard – despite the fact that these small sets of shelves are hardly a conflagration in waiting. They’re not even on the platforms, for Heaven’s sake; they’re in nobody’s way. It’s a quandary – but arguably the greater one is the fact that these rules have apparently been in place since 2009. Why were they only being enacted now?
And yet, TfL and the London Fire Brigade did not seem to want to be reasoned with until the Mayor stepped in. Sixty books have apparently already been removed from shelves around London this week, and even TfL staffers have expressed frustration with the way things have been handled. Even a former LFB chief has called the ban "overkill". Let’s hope those books get back on those shelves as soon as possible.
Should it really have come to this? It's not rocket science: just let us trade books in peace.
Vicky Jessop is a culture and lifestyle writer
