Minibieb: book crossing cabinets taking over the country

I had seen some of these small, nicely decorated boxes while driving or biking around.

Lately one appeared in the neighborhood so I had the chance to examine it close by and discovered that it's a book crossing experiment!

The Minibieb is basically a small library where residents can borrow books for free and leave the ones they enjoyed for other people to read.

It could be "managed" by someone living nearby, who decides to paint an old cupboard and stock it up with old books, it can be a group of neighbours with a passion for reading or schoolchildren and their teachers from a nearby school. Anything goes really.

Each cabinet also contains a notebook where people can note down what they borrowed and when, what they liked and what they would like to read.

It's also a great way for cash strapped foreign students or recent immigrants to practice their Dutch in a social an inexpensive way.

More info and how to sign up here:

http://minibieb.nl/

The bombing of The Hague, March 1945

Many people are well aware that Rotterdam suffered a terrible bombing at the beginning of WWII, that left the city almost completely destroyed.

Not so many people are aware that a part of The Hague was also destroyed, this time by Allied Forces' bombs.

On the 3 March 1945, 67.000 kilos of explosive were dropped on the Bezuidenhout, killing more than 500 people and leaving 12.000 people homeless.

The English planes were aiming for German rockets, which according to their intelligence were hidden in the Haagse Bos, but due to miscalculation and possibly adverse meteorological conditions, they hit the (already then) lively neighborhood.

The residents' committee and the City of The Hague have recently inaugurated an historical path complete with explanatory boards that takes walkers through the neighborhood and the woods, with before and after pictures and extra bits of history about the area, from its first developments in the 18th century till becoming the popular area it is nowadays.

More information and a list of related events planned for the month of March, here (in Dutch):

http://bezuidenhout.nl/index.asp

One of the panels with before/after pictures.