Whether classics, current bestsellers or specialised reading: In the "book cell" in front of the cafeteria building, there is reading material for (almost) every taste. If you find something you like, you can take the books with you free of charge - or put discarded books there yourself.
On the way into the canteen, you will notice the red telephone box to the right of the entrance - or rather, the "book box", as the little house is now called. Inside, books of all kinds are neatly lined up, large, small, thick, thin, worn and seemingly brand new. Anyone who likes can get new reading material here free of charge and easily or pass on their own books that they have read.
"We are always happy when we create new opportunities at the university to use resources sustainably - and that includes books," says Sabine Düser, who is responsible for waste disposal and environmental issues in building management. Together with a colleague, she made sure that the cell was given its current location and anchored there to prevent it from tipping over. The former telephone box was converted for its new purpose by various university trades, and was given suitable shelves and new panelling.
The AStA was also on board for the new book exchange facility right from the start: environmental science student and AStA officer Jan Kolsch formulated rules for the use of the cell and regularly keeps an eye on its condition. "The co-operation worked really well and was a lot of fun," he says of the collaboration.
Sabine Düser is particularly pleased that she regularly stocks the cupboard with books from the former CvO university bookshop, which the university was allowed to take over after the shop closed.
Anyone who has been at the university for a while will probably recognise today's bookcase from the library, where it stood in the centre of the ground floor for many years. It moved in at the end of the 1990s in the classic post office yellow colour scheme. The box was later repainted in the library's typical red colour - which led to almost magical speculation, especially among students: "With the hype surrounding the Harry Potter stories, people often joked that the telephone box was the entrance to the Ministry of Magic," says Antje Schimpf, Head of Administration at BIS - Library and Information System, with a smile. Because in the novel series, this is one of the ways you enter the government building of the wizarding community: via a red telephone box.
Incidentally, with its new function as a book exchange cabinet, the university book box is in good company: in recent years, many former telephone boxes across the country have been given a second life as public bookcases. On campus, the book box is one of many opportunities to swap everyday items - shelves and cupboards designed for this purpose can be found in the AStA wing, for example.
