A book forest for the German community in Melbourne

A handful of parents in southeast Melbourne wanted to make sure their children knew German. So in 2018, they founded a playgroup, then several school groups. They call themselves DerDieDas and are a nonprofit organization. Their latest project is a library: Bücherwald. It's been up and running since May. We were there for the grand opening.

Nicht nur Kinderbücher können im Bücherwald ausgeliehen werden, sondern auch Bücher für Erwachsene, Spiele, CDs und DVDs - alles in deutscher Sprache. Source: SBS / Julia Grewe

Results from the opening day:

• Approximately 200 visitors
• 100 pretzels eaten
• 85 sausages eaten
• 332 items checked out
• By the end of the opening day: roughly 70 members

Bücherwald is open every first Saturday of the month from 2 - 4 pm.

You can hear an interview with Gine and Imke here.

Read an article in English about Bücherwald here.

More information on DerDieDas and Bücherwald can be found here.

Gine Blombery und Imke Schmidt gehören zum Kernteam der Frewilligen, die das Büchereiprojekt auf die Beine gestellt haben. Source: SBS / Julia Grewe