Wednesday, April 25, 2012

A Night in the World for Books

Well, THAT was fun.

Guess what I got to do? Give out free books!

I know, I know - "Laura," you say, "You give out free books every day! You're a librarian, which is the best job in the universe. Thank you for your dedication, by the way."

To this I say, you're welcome. Also, sure I give out free books, but people have to return them. On Monday I gave out 20 copies of one of my current favorite books, The Hunger Games. For keeps!


April 23 was World Book Night, and I was beyond thrilled to participate. Months ago I heard that WBN was going to happen for the first time in this country, in addition to taking place in the U.K. and Ireland. Hopefully it will keep spreading! I was accepted as a "giver" after filling out an application online after hearing about it on http://www.hypable.com/.

Thousands of givers gave out books on Monday. We got to choose from a list of 30 books. (For a complete list, click here.) I had to pick my top three choices, and I chose The Hunger Games all three times. Luckily that didn't count against me and I got it. :)

I received a box with all the books along with some bookmarks and an awesome pin. WBN's purpose is to share the love of reading...especially with non-readers. The kinds of people who wouldn't typically pick up a book. So though I was going to be handing them out in the library, I wanted to give them to people who weren't there for books. I know you may think of people just coming to the library for books, but many many people come to study/use computers/use copy machine/tutoring/movies/etc. So I looked for those people.

So here's who I gave books to!

  • 4 high school girls working on a school project
  • 1 teacher to use in his classroom
  • 7 ladies using the community room for a craft program
  • 1 girl at the library to be tutored
  • 2 ladies knitting
  • 2 men only picking out movies
  • 1 partridge in a pear tree (not really...)

Then it was 9 pm. The library closed and I had 3 books left. I failed!

Not quite.

  • I stopped by my gym and gave the remaining 3 books to the guys working there. Success!

Truly a special day to be a part of. I heard some great stories of people giving books out all over the country. Just google "World Book Night 2012" to read more. I'll definitely be applying again next year, though I might trying reaching out beyond the library.

It was like Halloween, only with books! If you're interested, stay tuned next year and definitely give it a try. Worth it.

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