Mobile Bookstore at Taipei Main Station Offers Migrant Workers a Touch of Home
Every Sunday afternoon in the central hall of Taipei Main Station, a small, mobile bookstore quietly appears— Brilliant Time Bookstore. But this isn't a bookstore that sells books. Instead, it offers free lending of books in the native languages of migrant workers and new immigrants, aiming to bring comfort and a sense of belonging to those far from home.
Borrowing is simple and informal. Visitors only need to jot down their name and contact info in a notebook. The unspoken rule here is: “Return it when you can.” Most of the collection is in Indonesian, with additional selections in Vietnamese, Filipino, and Malay as well.
Though the original Brilliant Time Bookstore closed its physical location in the spring of 2025, its spirit lives on. Through this weekly mobile bookstore, it continues to turn pages of warmth, memory, and connection for Taipei’s migrant community.
以下為中文對照
北車的行動圖書館 為移工翻開一頁思鄉的溫柔
在台北車站中央大廳,每逢星期日下午,一間可以拖著走的書店悄悄出現──燦爛時光書店。這家書店不賣書,而是專為外籍移工、新住民而設,免費提供母語書籍借閱,盼能為離鄉背井的移工,帶來熟悉語言的慰藉與心靈寄託。
書店的借書方式極為自由,只需在筆記本上留下名字與聯絡方式,「想還再來」是這裡不成文的規則。書籍以印尼語佔大部分,其餘還有越南語、菲律賓語與馬來語等藏書。儘管燦爛時光實體書店已於2025年春季熄燈,但其精神仍透過北車每週的行動圖書館延續。

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