How Sharing Books Makes You Less Lonely | Rebecca Toh | TED · TED
Rebecca Toh分享她在新加坡建立的共享图书馆，通过租用书架、分享书籍，促进陌生人之间的连接。适合练习社交、文化、成长类表达。
A few months ago, 180 of us came together to build something in Singapore:
几个月前，我们中的 180 人齐聚新加坡，共同参与某个项目的建设。
a library.
一个图书馆。
In a city where we're lucky enough to already have a world-class, highly innovative, much beloved public library system,
在一个我们非常幸运、已经拥有世界级、极具创新性且深受民众喜爱的公共图书馆系统的城市里……
of which I am a happy beneficiary, how is our library different?
作为这些变革的受益者之一，我感到非常高兴。那么，我们的图书馆究竟有哪些不同之处呢？
So this is a picture of the library we built.
这就是我们建造的图书馆的照片。
We are nestled in the heartlands of Singapore, where we sit between a 50-year-old furniture store and an antique shop,
我们位于新加坡的中心地带，旁边是一家有着50年历史的家具店和一家古董店。
surrounded by birds and trees and ...
周围环绕着鸟儿、树木……
Quite a few chickens.
有相当多的鸡啊。
So our library is what we call a shared library.
我们的这个库被称为“共享库”（shared library）。
There are 180 shelves in our library, each of them rented and maintained by a different person.
我们的图书馆共有 180 个书架，每个书架都由不同的个人负责租赁和维护。
For 45 Singapore dollars a month you get to become a bookshelf owner.
只需每月支付 45 新加坡元，你就可以成为书架的所有者了。
Being a bookshelf owner is actually really fun, because you get to share your favorite books on your own shelf,
拥有一排属于自己的书架其实是一件非常有趣的事情，因为你可以将自己最喜欢的书籍展示在属于自己的书架上，并与他人分享这些书籍。
you get to decorate your own space and change up your books every now and then.
你可以自己装饰自己的空间，并时不时地更换书籍。
Every shelf in our library is like a little pocket universe, an interesting, almost voyeuristic glimpse into someone's heart and mind.
我们图书馆的每一个书架都仿佛是一个“微型宇宙”——一个让我们得以窥视他人内心世界的小窗口，让我们对他们的思想与情感产生浓厚的兴趣（甚至带有某种“偷窥”的意味）。
And if you walk around our library, quite often you end up standing in front of a shelf thinking to yourself,
如果你在我们的图书馆里走走逛逛，很多时候你会站在某个书架前，心里想着……
"I think I know this person," even though, strangely, you've never met this person in your entire life.
我想我认识这个人，”尽管奇怪的是，你这一辈子从来都没有见过这个人。
The other interesting thing about our library is that we are entirely volunteer-run.
我们图书馆的另一个有趣之处在于，它完全是由志愿者们运营的。
So a roster of about 40 very kind volunteer librarians take turns to keep our library open six days a week,
因此，由大约 40 名非常热心的志愿者图书管理员组成的团队轮流值班，确保我们的图书馆每周六天都正常开放。
12 hours a day.
每天工作12个小时。
Some of them are bookshop owners, they have a shelf in our library.
其中一些人都是书店的老板，他们在我们的图书馆里设有专门的书架用于摆放他们的书籍。
Some of them are people from the community who really want to be part of the project.
其中一些人来自当地社区，他们非常希望成为这个项目的一部分。
They are doctors, ex-lawyers, students, mothers, freelancers, retirees.
他们有的是医生，有的是前律师，有的是学生，有的是母亲，有的是自由职业者，还有的是退休人员。
We even have a five-year-old librarian among us.
我们中间甚至有一位五岁的“图书管理员”。
But we all have something in common.
但我们都有一个共同点。
We love books, we believe in the power of books, and we enjoy being surrounded by books.
我们热爱书籍，相信书籍的力量，并且乐于置身于书籍的环绕之中。
So any time we’re open, anyone is welcome to come in, to sit down, to read a book for free,
所以，只要我们开门营业，任何人都可以进来，坐下来，免费阅读一本书。
to make a friend or connection, to drink a cup of coffee, randomly brewed by someone in the library,
为了结交朋友或建立联系，可以去图书馆喝一杯由某人随机冲泡的咖啡。
and to just let the stress of life melt off their shoulders.
让他们生活中的压力全都从肩上卸下来吧。
So how did we come to build a library like this?
那么，我们究竟是如何建立起这样一个图书馆的呢？
So in April this year, I took a break from my work as a photographer, and I went to Japan for a sabbatical,
因此，今年四月，我暂时停止了摄影师的工作，前往日本度过了一个休假假期。
where I stumbled upon a small, shared community library with a similar concept.
在那里，我偶然发现了一个规模不大、由多人共同使用的社区图书馆，其运营理念与我之前见过的类似。
I loved it.
我非常喜欢它。
I loved it.
我非常喜欢它。
There was just something about the space that really enticed me.
那个空间的某些特质真的让我着迷。
Standing in that little library in Japan,
站在日本的那间小图书馆里，
even though I couldn't read any of the Japanese books, I could sense a very powerful energy of love and care.
尽管我无法阅读那些日文书籍，但我仍能感受到其中蕴含的强烈爱意与关怀之情。
And even though I couldn't read any of the Japanese books there,
尽管我无法阅读那里的任何一本日文书籍，
I thought it would be wonderful if we could have something like this in Singapore.
我觉得如果新加坡也能有这样的设施或服务，那该多好啊。
So I decided to turn to social media.
于是，我决定借助社交媒体来解决问题。
So I came back to Singapore, decided to write a simple Instagram post, just outlining my vision of what I thought a small,
所以我回到了新加坡，决定在 Instagram 上发一篇简短的帖子，大致阐述一下我对“小型企业”应该是什么样的看法。