A mum and her four-year-old son have been left disappointed and upset after their handmade community book exchange project was taken from outside their home.
Alika Darby and Kai spent a week painting and varnishing the cabinet, which quickly proved popular with local children, but it disappeared hours after they put it in their garden.
“My son was really upset wen he saw it had gone,” said 32-year-old Alika, who works as a newborn and family photographer.
They put the book exchange outside their home in Lochaber Street in Roath at around 9am on Thursday, August 22.
Kai is due to start school in September and Alika wanted a project for them to work on together over the summer.
“I wanted to encourage him to read more books,” she said. “It was a great project for rainy days too.”
Alika said she was inspired by some pictures on social media site Pinterest and wanted to make something for her local community.
One neighbour donated the cabinet and another donated the paint, allowing them to create the book exchange for 99 pence.
Kai helped to paint it and they added flower stickers, then varnished it so it could stay outside.
“We saw quite a few children from our street using it,” said Alika. “They were really excited about leaving an old book and taking away a new one to read.
“Loads of books were being put in there and my son was going out to check it all the time.”
Alika said they left the cabinet out overnight on Thursday and it disappeared at around 5pm on Friday.
The cabinet was decorated with flowers and there was writing painted on the top saying: “Neighbourhood book exchange. Take a book. Leave a book.”
“We were in the house, but we didn’t see or hear anything,” she said. “We thought it would be okay because it was heavy to carry.
“But someone emptied out the books, about 25, and left them piled up by the wall. Maybe they didn’t realise what it was, but I thought it was quite clear.”
Alika said she posted about the incident online because a lot of families had said they were planning to visit and she did not want them to be disappointed.
Since then, someone has offered to donate another cabinet and someone else has suggested security measures.
“I told Kai we’d make a new one,” she said. “We’ve got two weeks left of the summer holiday. It was so good while it was there and so many people want it to work.”
