We’ve projected a near-future in which kiosks located in supermarkets, coffee shops or public libraries will dispense print on demand books. Customers will be able to choose among hundreds of thousands of titles and watch their book being born while they have a cup of coffee or finish their shopping. Some clever Brits, however, have created a lower-tech kiosk – out of a phone booth, turning a village’s double loss – its public phone service and its mobile library – into a wonderful amenity.

The council of a small parish called Westbury-sub-Mendip took one of those familiar red boxes off the phone company’s hands for a token £1. Then the townspeople stocked the booth with books, CDs and DVDs. “Users simply stock it with a book they have read, swapping it for one they have not,” BBC explains. “‘It’s really taken off,’” said one of the town’s councillors. ‘”This facility has turned a piece of street furniture into a community service in constant use.’”

BT Group, Britain’s leading landline telecommunications provider, subsequently received almost 800 applications for parishes to “adopt a kiosk”, and about half of the applications have been fulfilled to date.

Obviously, in an age of cell phones, phone booths worldwide are just occupying real estate. And so are a lot of books, CDs and DVDs. Converting phone boxes to microlibraries solves both problems at a stroke. The only one it creates is long, long queues. C’mon, mate, make yer bloody selection!

Richard Curtis