ICYDK: You Can Read and Drop Off Books at This Open Library in SM Aura
Yep, for free.
(SPOT.ph) It can be pretty hard to find a place in Metro Manila where you can just sit down and do something—without pressure to spend. If you sit to chill at a cafe, you best buy a beverage of sorts; at a restaurant, a dish; the cinemas, of course, a ticket; the list goes on. Places where you're not taxed, in a manner of speaking, for simply existing are few and far between: places like, say, a library. But we won't lie, the chances of our family or friend group heading to the local library to cool down and hang out are slim—which is why we're shining the light on one library-esque place at a Taguig City mall. The next time you head to SM Aura, visit the Book Nook.
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Check out the SM Aura Book Nook
At one side of the third level, occupying the space between Hi-Precision Diagnostics Plus and Crate & Barrel, is an interestingly designed free-standing platform with rows and rows of books. This is the Book Nook at SM Aura. It functions as a free library for the community, where you can stop by, read books, and drop off a few tomes you think would be better used by the general public. You can open the pages of different kinds of reads, from popular YA fiction to general knowledge (anyone remember devouring Guiness World Book of Records?) to creative non-fiction to Korean books, heck, even vintage Batman comics are on their shelves.
The cleverly designed space, which features curved shelves and seating integrated into the platform, is a joint effort between The Book Stop Project, WTA Architecture and Design Studio, SM Aura Premiere, and SM Cares. You probably recall that first one thanks to the fact that they're the same group behind that pop-up library concept that moved through places like Intramuros, Bonifacio High Street, Quiapo and more pre-pandemic.
This SM Aura nook operates much the same way and has been around, on and off, since the lockdowns. Now, it seems they're a more permanent presence at the mall, thankfully, even holding storytelling programs and language classes from time to time.
Take a look at the SM Aura Book Nook below:
For more information, check out the SM Book Nook Instagram page.