Down and Dewey – Day Four-ish
Posted by Pamela Ribon on Apr 15, 2010 in Going In Circles Drive | 19 commentsWe’re just a few books away from one hundred donations to libraries in need and I can’t thank you guys enough for your help.
Today’s wishlists:
Hardee County Public Library: Their call for help on their webpage alone should be enough. Already having to close their doors on the weekends, Hardee County Public Library, which serves the tiny town of Wauchula, Florida, and several area libraries, is struggling to have enough money to continue to provide Internet access for its community. I saw the picture of the Lake Placid library, with the comedically sad, wonky letters, and was reminded of a story my mom likes to tell. When I was thirteen and had just moved to a tiny Texas town, I thought I’d find some escape at the library. Mom says I came home inconsolable. “They have like, SIX BOOKS!” I wailed. “It’s like a BOOKMOBILE!” I sobbed into my pillow screaming, “We can’t live here! What am I supposed to READ?!”
It’s not like boys were kissing me, okay? I had books. They never complain when you hug them.
So I’m picking this place because there’s a very good chance this library lives inside a strip mall, what with the way the website makes it look like you’re walking into a We the People. Their Facebook page and their blog shows just how much they care about the community, especially the needs of the children (with an apparent emphasis on homeschooled kids). I see pictures about computer classes for adults and babysitting classes for teens, arts and crafts and movie nights. But I don’t see any books. Can we send them some?
And:
Delphos Public Library: They don’t have many items on their wishlist, and most of them cost ten bucks or less. Delphos is a small farming community in north-central Kansas. And apparently the home of Grace Bedell, who was the girl who urged President Lincoln to grow his beard. I’m not making this up.
At the tender age of seventeen, Grace married civil war veteran, George Newton Billings, and moved to Delphos, Kansas. Grace was thrust into a primitive, often wild, and completely male dominated land. She and George encountered floods, tornadoes, prairie fires, marauding Indians, drought, grasshopper plagues, and more. They entertained a few famous and many more not so famous friends in their home. Together, the couple became an integral part of our history, as they lived out their days in Delphos.
See? You can’t say you didn’t learn something today.
Winners from Tuesday and Wednesday are:
Jennifer Rutherford
Michael Blake
Lori Paximadis
Kristina
Congrats to the winners and thanks again.
I bought two picture books from the Hardee County Public Library wish list: http://www.amazon.com/registry.....4&y=10
Libraries are especially important for the youngest readers (and readers-to-be!).
Thanks for doing this again, Pamie! I’m hoping to say hello to you at the LA Times Festival of Books next weekend.
My 13 year old self just took over my body and forced me to buy the Hardee County Public Library the entire Twilight Saga to make up for the fact that my old library (which closed earlier this year. Sob.) did not have the Darkangel series when I was in junior high.
Hey, Pamie -
I picked the Hardee County Public Library because of their blog post
showing the “old folks” learning how to use computers. Cool.
I sent:
“Is Your Mama a Llama?” because I lived in South America for about
7 years as a kid and llama’s make me nostalgic for Bolivia.
“Pink Princess Cookbook” ’cause…c’mon…pink princesses cooking.
“If You Give a Pig a Party” ’cause I love that book.
Later -
Joanna.
The Hardee County Public Library should be receiving
http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ.....ss_product
http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ.....ss_product
http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ.....ss_product
soon!
Two YA sci-fi series books and a “Silly Songs” CD are on their way to the Hardee County Public Library:
http://www.amazon.com/Hardee-C.....search_310
I’m four weeks away from graduating with my master’s in library science and this seemed like a good way to mark the occasion. I love that Hardee County’s blog is so focused on the people who use the library — yay for dedicated, tech-savvy, writerly librarians serving their communities!
Hi Pamie,
Just an FYI, not an SOS for books, but the library budget blues are also affecting another not-so-tiny Texas town from your youth:
http://www.chron.com/disp/stor.....48886.html
And a dumb newbie type Q — if the Amazon wish list entries are from 2008, should we assume (Uma Thurman) that those books are indeed still what they want?
[Hi, Heather. That link to the Houston Public Library budget crisis is heartbreaking. I'll see what I can do to find some help for them tomorrow.
The nature of the surprise-book-bomb means that often the wishlists are older. I picked one that had been updated as recently as February of this year, so I'm assuming if they didn't need those books anymore, they would have taken them off the list. As we've done in the past, feel free to add any books that are close to your own heart or you think would be helpful for that community. And thank you so much for helping! - pamie]
To my eternal shame, I haven’t donated since the 2005 Kancheepuram Drive. I hope I made up for my slack by sending Hardee County all of the available kids’ music CDs on their wish list. I used to be a preschool teacher, and Music & Movement Time was the highlight of the week for everyone. I hope that Hardee County patrons enjoy the music as much as my kids did!
Hi Pamie,
I ordered a few things for Hardee County Public Library and the Delphos Public Library:
Hardee:
Dig Dig Digging (It looked cute from the front cover. That’s all.)
Astonishing X-Men, Vol. 2: Dangerous
Astonishing X-Men, Vol. 3: Torn (I chose some X-Men books because I didn’t want to overlook the geeky boy population in my choices)
Delphos:
Angry Octopus: A Relaxation Story (who doesn’t like a relaxation story?)
Affirmation Weaver: A Believe in Yourself Story, Designed to Help
Children Boost Self-esteem While Decreasing Stress and Anxiety. (Whew, long title. I chose this because I have never seen a book like this and I probably could have used it when I was a kid.)
Health from God’s Garden: Herbal Remedies for Glowing Health and Well-Being (eh, I’ve been reading up on this kind of stuff. It’s intriguing.)
The Ghost and the Haunted Mansion (Looked like a good “regular” book)
Thanks for doing this and getting everyone involved! It’s a good reminder for me to be grateful for the amazing library we have in my little Chicago suburb.
Sarah Hunt
Dear Pamie
I’m a fairly recent but regular reader of your website, but I really enjoy reading and I’ve loved your TWoP recaps for a long time. Dewey is a wonderful idea! Thank you.
So, today I donated the following books to Hardee County Public Library:
I picked these books primarily because I’m a sucker for obvious rhyming (just yesterday I laughed at my boyfriend’s witty pairing of “shoe” and “poo” – yeah okay. It’s a lot like a more erudite New Yorker magazine at our house). Also: Pirate Girl?! Yes please. Anything that (I imagine) encourages young girls to buckle their swashes and say “ARRRrrrr” is on my list.
Shipping to: Hardee County Public Library’s Gift Registry Address
Whose Toes are Those? – Jabari Asim
Pirate Girl – Cornelia Funke
Is Your Mama a Llama? – Deborah Guarino
My Truck is Stuck! – Kevin Lewis
Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo – Kevin Lewis
I live in the UK and I’d love to organise something like this on a more local basis for me – although I understand that a major problem for London libraries may be a lack of sufficient government funding for full-time staff, rather than insufficient stock – but one of the two I can do something about (and to the extent I can, I’d like to!).
I was wondering if you would mind sharing any pointers as to how you started up? Do you contact particular libraries / hospitals directly or is it a surprise? (I’ve discovered some UK based libraries with wishlists on amazon.co.uk)
Thank you for setting up Dewey, thank you for your awesome recaps and blogging, and I hope your knee heals well and swiftly.
Yours,
Patricia
(ps. I blog here: http://www.superforest.org – we happy, we have a humanifesto! – its primarily a collective international blog, with a focus on positivity, sustainability and the environment – we also do real world stuffs like work with the 4fives (a class of 4th/5th graders in Brooklyn’s PS58), we recently did a little fundraising for the Millennium Seed Bank, have plans to do some partnership work with http://www.sulabhinternational.org/ – so it’s a nice platform for positivity. And the kidz can’t see how uncool I am over the internetz. Heh)
[Patricia, you rule. The story of how Dewey came to be is here. It tends to be a "surprise" situation, but there were times (like with the tsunami or Katrina) that it was more effective to plan in advance with the people who would handle the donations. The goal of Dewey was always to put the power of helping into the hands of library-lovers, and I'm so happy to know you're interested in doing something like this in your area. Keep us posted! -- pamie]
For the clinic:
Alternative Medicine Definitive Guide to Cancer (Alternative Medicine Definitive Guides)
W. John Diamond, W. Lee Cowden
The New Mother’s Body Book The New Mother’s Body Book
Jacqueline Shannon
Cystic Fibrosis: A Guide for Patient and Family Cystic Fibrosis: A Guide for Patient and Family
David Michael Orenstein
Guia De LA Clinica Mayo Sobre Salud Digestiva (Spanish Edition)
John E. King
-Jason
The Hardee County Public Library got:
The Host: A Novel – Stephenie Meyer
Baby Cakes – Karma Wilson
There’s something a wee bit creepy about that two-book combo but I hope the librarians will forgive my skewed sense of humor.
Thanks again, Pam, for the opportunity to honor National Library Week…besides eating the huge baskets of candy at my circulation desk. Three cheers for you, lady!
For the Hardee County public library:
Batman: Killing Joke http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ.....os_product
and Time for School, Mouse!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ.....os_product
Because I was a kid who spent a lot of her time at the library and in the Bookmobile. I was lucky enough to live in a rich suburban county with well-funded libraries.
Here’s my donations for today:
Delphos Public Library :
Took advantage of 4-for-3 offer to send:
– “The Ghost and the Dead Deb (Haunted Bookshop Mystery)” Alice Kimberly
– “The Ghost and the Dead Man’s Library (Haunted Bookshop Mystery)” Alice Kimberly
– “The Ghost and the Femme Fatale (Haunted Bookshop Mysteries, No. 4)” Alice Kimberly
– “Homicide in Hardcover: A Bibliophile Mystery” Kate Carlisle
Hardee County Public Library:
– “The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4)” Rick Riordan
– “Dora the Explorer – Musical School Days”
–Michael
Sending Hardee the first four House of Night novels. They had two on the wish list so I doubled it.
I’m 39, and SO NOT the target demographic for these books, but they’re awesome female-empowerment, Oklahoma-based Vampyre (their spelling) tales written by a mom-and-daughter duo out of Tulsa.
Marked (House of Night, Book 1)
Betrayed (House of Night, Book 2)
Chosen (House of Night, Book 3)
Untamed (House of Night, Book 4)
Delphos is getting:
Bubble Riding: A Relaxation Story, Designed to Help Children Increase Creativity While Lowering Stress and Anxiety Levels
The Herbal Drugstore
The Green Pharmacy Herbal Handbook: Your Everyday Reference to the Best Herbs for Healing
Thanks, Pamie!
Sent Hardee two children’s books! Merry Christmas Mouse and Hello, Calico!
You are doing amazing things, Pam!
Hardee County gets ‘Uh-oh Calico’ as well. This is fun!
The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2) and The Titan’s Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3) are on their way to Hardee County Public Library. I was introduced to this fun series because a friend surprise-mailed them to me, so I am all-too-happy to pay it forward to this library.
Note to others who might buy from third-party sellers: the one I bought these books from doesn’t allow ordering from wishlists, but the library’s mailing address is easy to find on their website. So don’t let that deter you from giving :)
If I win your book I’d like it signed by Haemona Ryebun.
For Hardee County Public Library:
“Dark Summit: The True Story of Everest’s Most Controversial Season” Nick Heil
“Batman: The Dark Knight Returns” Frank Miller
-Carolyn
I know for many of the children in my family, comics and fantasy books got them hooked on reading. In honor of that, I ordered Batman: Year One and Brisingr for Hardee County Public Library.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ.....os_product
http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ.....os_product
Thanks for organizing this Pamie!