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The Oxford Poetry Library (OPL) is a not-for-profit voluntary organization created to serve the community in Oxford. Addressing the lack of a wide-ranging, publicly accessible collection of poetry in Oxford, OPL acts as the physical source of a variety of books, as well as a source of enthusiasm for its reading and writing. It aims not only to provide writers and poetry enthusiasts with a valuable resource, but also to introduce the joys of poetry to as wide an audience as possible. It exists as a mobile, pedal-powered library, a cargo bike with a custom-built box to be filled with books. Volunteers will take the bike to various locations around the city to give direct access to poetry in the community, and in doing so, will build connections between people through reading and writing. As a free resource open to anyone, we seek to foster people’s understanding and appreciation of literature and through this, build community bonds both within and outside of the artistic and literary community in the city.
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