Books fly out of Cape Town Airport Flybrary

THE shelves at Cape Town Airport's Flybrary are emptier than they were when the unmanned book exchange was first launched at the international arrivals hall three months ago.

The Flybrary is South Africa's only open airport library where travellers are urged to swap their finished book for another. Reliant on common courtesy and honesty, passengers are asked to drop one off before picking up a new one.

Yet the Flybrary has suffered a 25% stock loss since it opened with 7500 books.

But Airports Company South Africa spokesman Deidre Hendricks is not too concerned.

"We are seeing new books on the shelves daily and this goes to show there are exchanges taking place.

"You can see there are gaps, which means people have taken some books home, but it's also not a crime because at least we know they are reading."

The open library is furnished with dark wooden shelves and a fireplace to replicate a traditional library. It also has many old encyclopaedias. "We have seen an interesting collection of books on the shelves like the Da Vinci Code and a couple of economics text books," Hendricks said.

Airport staff and the public were urged to donate books.

The Flybrary opened in July with a consignment of mostly secondhand books. It is open to passengers and members of the public. - Reitumetse Pitso