The shelves at Cape Town Airport's Flybrary are emptier than they were when the unmanned book exchange was first launched at the international arrivals hall three months ago.
The Flybrary is South Africa's only open airport library where travellers are urged to swop their finished book for another.
Reliant on honesty, passengers are asked to "drop one off before picking a new one".
Yet the Flybrary has suffered a 25% stock loss since it opened with 7500 books.
But Airports Company South Africa spokesman Deidre Hendricks is not too concerned.
"We are seeing new books on the shelves daily and this goes to show that there are exchanges taking place. You can see there are gaps, which means people have taken home some books, but it's also not a crime because at least we know they are reading."
The open library is furnished with dark wooden shelves and a fireplace to replicate a traditional library. It also has many old encyclopaedias.
"We have seen an interesting collection of books on the shelves like The Da Vinci Code and a couple of economics text books," said Hendricks.
She said staff and the public were urged to donate books.
The Flybrary opened in July with a consignment of mostly second-hand books. It is located just outside the international arrivals hall and can be accessed by both passengers and the public.
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