Long John Hill Little Free Library vandalised in Norwich

Kathi Maloo started the Long John Hill Little Free Library in Lakenham during lockdown and has kept it going ever since, but now she is having second thoughts after vandals smashed a window.

Ms Maloo started the library as a way to help her community through the pandemic and keep her busy while she was undergoing chemotherapy-based treatment but on Tuesday morning she went to sort the books and found the damaged box.

Ms Maloo found the library window smashed (Image: Kathi Maloo)

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She says the damage has left her with no choice but to remove the library from its post as vandals had left a sharp part of its window sticking out.

Ms Maloo is unsure if she will continue out of fear of what could happen next.

She said: "It's a real shame, we've had three incidents before where books have been strewn about, but nothing like this.

Kathi Maloo (Image: Kathi Maloo)

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"The sharp edges had made it too unsafe so I had to take it down, so I announced I was closing it as I'm worried what else could happen next as it's on my fence.

"But I've had an outcry of people wanting it to stay open so maybe I will keep going.

"It brings people together. We have one chap whose wife died and he always has a chat over the fence, it gets people talking."

The Long John Hill Little Free Library (Image: Kathi Maloo)

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The community has rallied around Ms Maloo - who was nominated for the Todd H Bol Award for Outstanding Achievement, named after the late founder of the Little Free Library organisation - with a number of offers to replace or repair the library for free.

She added: "It's been shared everywhere online, we even had a message from Texas to support us.

"We've even had a few offers to keep us going so perhaps I will have to have a grand reopening."