hospital bookshelf with book fairy donations

Book Fairy Stories: Sara in South Wales, UK

We love hearing stories from book fairies around the world. In this post, Sara explains why she loves being a book fairy and how she chooses to spread the magic!

Book Fairy Sara, in her own words:

I usually just drop single books around South Wales, books that I’ve read and loved and think other people will adore and hopefully get some pleasure from. Then a little while ago my husband wasn’t very well and when we went to the GP I thought it would only be a quick trip so I didn’t take my bag with my kindle In or a book to read. (Unheard of for me).

On the search for a good read…

Alas the book gods weren’t looking down on me that day and he got sent to the hospital for some tests. While there he mainly slept so I got very bored, I had no money and no books!! One of the nurses kindly told me about the honesty bookshelf and told me I could always replace the book once I had finished or pay another day.

Book Fairy donations in the hospital

I went and had a look and there were lots of very old and worn books but nothing that I really fancied reading but would do in a pinch. So I decided that I would do something about it. I went around a couple of local charity shops the next couple of days and bought as many books as I could carry, and filled the shelves the next day.

Encouraging friends to share the magic

Now I grab a couple of books every time I see a good variety and I have friends who call me when they see a charity table filled with books and a sign saying grab as many as you like and make a small donation, asking what I need. I try to take a bag filled every week or so and In each book I put a little note to let the recipient know that the book has been donated by a book fairy and how they can get involved.

Some of the books I’ve donated:

I also make sure they know that a donation has been made to cover the cost as its an honesty bookshelf so they advise a donation of 50p for paperback or a £1 for hardbacks, usually I put a little message asking people if possible return the book or pass it along and if they feel able then to feel free to also make a donation as all of the proceeds go to the league of Neville Hall friends.

The friends run a shop and café at the hospital as well as a trolley around the wards that my husband was able to use several times during his stay. I plan on doing this as long as I’m able as its hard enough being in hospital, having nothing to read is just plain miserable. I love seeing the books the fairy’s drop and its great to be able to be part of this.

This is a beautiful story from Sara, and we hope you enjoyed it! If you have your own story to share, book fairy related or just book related in general, please email bookfairyemail@gmail.com!

Become a book fairy yourself!

It’s easy, you just need a bunch of books you want to donate and some official book fairy stickers (link below)! You can choose to hide them in public, for example on benches, or you can choose to do something like Sara did, bringing magic to those most in need. Whatever you do, you’re spreading the love of reading and the magic of the book fairies 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *