City residents will get books delivered by tuk-tuk from this summer, as part of a Portsmouth City Council plan to bring library services to local neighbourhoods.
Two tuk-tuks – rickshaws with electric motors – will bring reading materials to areas without a library and promote library and other council services.
The tuk-tuk scheme is one innovative project made possible by a successful bid by the council for £100,000 of Arts Council England funding. The money is to develop community outreach and support city regeneration and lifelong learning.
The grant will also fund bookable office pods, with IT, to support business start-ups and people needing quiet learning or working spaces. These will be at the Central and North End libraries.
Dave Percival, libraries and archive services manager at the council, said: “The tuk-tuks will get lots of attention and help us promote our services in areas of the city where there aren’t libraries. They will also be used to deliver books to vulnerable residents, helping to extend our books-at-home service for people that find it difficult to get out.
“The office pods will provide a quiet working space for residents, whether that’s people using it to study, work on job applications, or work flexibly.
“All of this helps support our City Vision for 2040, which includes aspirations for a city rich in culture and creativity, a city with a thriving economy, a city of lifelong learning and a green city.”