Dunedin's own Lilliput Libraries has the backing of prisoners at Otago Corrections Facility (OCF), who have committed to building book-exchange boxes.
Lilliput libraries is an initiative aimed at people who cannot get access to a regular library.
The wooden boxes will be sited on fences around Dunedin so people can have books simply by visiting the box, taking a book and returning it when they are finished.
Lilliput Libraries is an initiative run by organisation Poems in the Waiting Room.
OCF assistant prison director Gill Brown said Lilliput Libraries was a "great initiative'' to be involved in.
"[It's] something that has benefits for everyone involved and the community,'' she said.
"Projects like this fit well with the prison's industries programmes, where prisoners learn employable skills and gain qualifications for employment on release.''
Seventeen boxes had already been installed around Dunedin and it was hoped 62 would be in operation by the middle of the year.
OCF prisoners were building 15 and more were likely, once extra funding had been secured.
Poems in the Waiting Room spokeswoman Ruth Arnison said she was "impressed by the high standard of workmanship'' of the prisoners.
"Not being a very handy person, I appreciated suggestions and tips offered by the guys at OCF,'' she said.
Lilliput Libraries would be focused on the Dunedin area for the time being.
There had also been interest in the initiative from Central Otago and Christchurch.
