Penguin donates books to Earls Colne village exchange

Five years ago, Gordon and Sharon Brown transformed a derelict grade-II listed telephone box in Earls Colne into a community book exchange for villagers to use.

Artist Juliet Townsend giving the telephone box its annual refresh. (Image: Gordon Brown)

However, last month, Mr Brown reported a man had removed around 100 books from the exchange, often taking away several bags at a time without leaving any donations in return.

The activity was spotted by a local living opposite the box, who photographed the man after growing concerned about the number of books disappearing.

However, Mr Brown said publicity from the East Anglian Daily Times surrounding the theft has brought something good out of a bad situation.

"After your article, I had a lot of people contact me to say they are sorry to see what has been happening," he said.

Among those was publishing giant Penguin Random House, which has donated a collection of books to the telephone box.

"Penguin have got offices here in Colchester," said Mr Brown.

"They support charities and good organisations like ours," he added.

The interior of the Earls Colne telephone box (Image: Gordon Brown)

Following the thefts, the telephone box security has been taken up a notch.

Mr Brown said local electrician Danny Gregory has installed a CCTV camera into the box.

"I got support from the local electrician who had previously put the solar panels in. He has installed a camera and that has deterred him [the thief] from returning," he said.

Although Mr Brown suspects the thief may simply have moved on.

The exchange has also just had its annual refresh, with local artist Juliette Townsend updating the artwork adorning the outside of the iconic red box.

"She has developed it quite considerably since she first started with us," said Mr Brown.

Danny Gregory (top), Juliet Townsend (left), and Gordon Brown (right) (Image: Gordon Brown)

With hundreds of comments posted online and messages of support continuing to arrive, Mr Brown believes the incident has highlighted how much the exchange means to local people.

"There has been huge feedback on our Facebook group. People do very much appreciate that it's there," he said.

Mr Brown expressed his gratitude to Joanne Lee and Penguin Random House for their generosity.