This Lewisham Station Library Faces Imminent Closure

Last Updated 17 January 2025

This Lewisham Station Library Faces Imminent Closure
A person perusing the books
The free book library was opened in May 2022, but now faces closure following Lewisham station's redesignation as a sub-surface railway station.

In 2022, Michael Peacock experienced what he calls a 'mental car crash' — a setback that inadvertently prompted him to set up a free library at the entrance of Lewisham station.

"For several months every waking moment was overwhelmed by what had happened," Michael tells Londonist,
"I then noticed the telephone box free book library on Loampit Hill. I picked up a tatty paperback, The City Boy by Herman Wouk, and soon appreciated that by reading it helped relieve my troubled mind. Soon I was reading five to seven books a week.

A man holding up books next to a piano
Michael Peacock set up the library after experiencing what he calls a 'mental car crash'.

"Appreciating the wellbeing benefits of reading and that the phone box was nearly empty, I took a photo and shared it via various groups on Facebook with the message 'we could do with some more books.' Within 48 hours the shelves were full, then Tamsin Bacchus (who has since then become a close friend and my main volunteer), offered me 75 crates of books.

"My reaction was 'OK but where on Earth can I accommodate 75 crates of books?!'"

A piano with books on it
This piano bookshelf has already been removed, following an order from Southeastern.

Lewisham Community Space, located in the local shopping centre, came to Michael's rescue, where he was able to set up a small library. Then, shortly after this, Michael eyed up Lewisham station as another potential opportunity.

"I was motivated to contact Southeastern and TfL/DLR to seek permission to create a free library," Michael tells Londonist. "To my amazement I was given a green light."

A person selecting books from the shelves
An appeal has been launched to reverse the decision that would see the library removed at the beginning of February.

The rest is history, and since May 2022, the free library (which Michael is keen to point doesn't work under the same concept as a book swap, because it doesn't work on a book-for-book basis) has proved immensely popular. Michael reckons the turnover of books in the last two-and-a-half years is in the ballpark of 200,000.

Now though, the entire setup is under threat.

In summer 2024, Michael says that Southeastern instructed him to remove some of the bookcases as well as an upright piano, after "concerns were raised," which he duly did. Then, in December, he received a letter from KeolisAmey Docklands, which operates and maintains the DLR, saying that following a visit from the London Fire Brigade, Lewisham station has been re-classified as a sub-surface railway station under the Fire Precautions (Sub-Surface Railway Stations) England Regulations 2009, and that all of the bookshelves and books must go by 3 February 2025.

This would prove a sudden and devastating blow to the many Lewishamites, including children, who use the library on a regular basis.

Michael disagrees with the sub-station reclassification: "Where the library is located is above ground and open to the elements on all sides." He has also stated that free libraries are located at Finsbury Park, Highbury & Islington, Morden, Oval, Stratford and Tooting Bec — all of which are genuinely sub-surface environments.

There is now a race against the clock to overturn the decision, with Michael launching an urgent appeal to save what's left of the library, as well as to bring back what's already gone.

You can sign the petition here, and bolster the library's chance of survival in a London where libraries all over face reduced opening times, or outright shuttering.

Londonist has contacted KeolisAmey Docklands for comment.