Boîtes à lire in Dijon, (Côte-d'Or (21))

Three Boîtes à lire (of 49!) here in Dijon (called Boîtes à livres in both French and Braille!). Disappointingly, both the first (in a way out-of-the-way spot in the Jardin de l'Arquebuse) and the second (in the bustling Place de République) had almost no books: people collecting, or lack of interest? Who can tell, but the third had a quite a number. I was devastated that neither Gibert Joseph nor Fnac in the town had a copy of the brilliant Éric Chevillard's latest Minuit novel Monotobio, I mean, the guy lives here: very quietly, almost in secret, but everyone knows! Or not. I digress.

So, Dijon encourages reading, and to prove it this Boîte à lire is just one of the 49 in the town itself and the outskirts. OK, I'd come across one weird one which was locked up (Varennes-le-Grand) due to Covid-19, but this is the first one with a warning I'd encountered. It advises taking all precautionary measures: the wearing of gloves and the washing of hands when books are either left or taken, and to put any books taken 'in quarantine' between five and eight days. No comment.