The Stroumboulopouli

The Stroumboulopouli

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Monday, May 18, 2009

Bags and boxes of books?

If you follow George Stroumboulopoulos on Twitter or are a facebook friend of his, you may have noticed his recent tweet/status.

George Stroumboulopoulos "Where's the best place to donate a bunch of books in Toronto? Wide variety. Never done this before. Thoughts? #freebooks #springcleaning"

This question elicited a flurry of responses. Library, Books for Charity, Hospitals, Shelters, Schools, Prisons, Churches, Freecycle, Goodwill and other charities.
Even Rick Mercer made a comment of George's status:

Rick Mercer
Rick Mercer
Why must you encourage reading. Do you want TV to fail?

It's open for discussion.
What do you do when you read your book, and want to pass it forward?

My thoughts... There is no shame in selling it to a second hand book store. It offers other readers a reduced price book, keeps the shopkeeper employed and you get a little lunch money. Win win! One other idea that is popular in my circles is to put your initials in the book once you read it and put it a bag and everyone brings a bag of books to the friends house when they gather and offer it up for everyone. Like a pot luck reading feast!

I think all these suggestions can work for communities across the country.
People replied very quickly to George's initial inquiry with a lot of great ideas and this got me thinking. If we all know where to give our used books to, why are they still in boxes in our storage room? Or maybe that's just me...?
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Here is an inspirational story about
going big with the idea of donating books.
One man donated 30,000 books
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Do you think George's main source for books might be from the Authors that he has researched and interviewed over the years? Probably many books from many authors he is never going to interview... what are you keeping George, and what are you giving away?
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On the topic of great authors on The Hour. The Hour's own forum has a lively discussion about them in the Offical Booklist here
.

3 comments:

Barbara said...

That's not a picture of George's books... in case you thought it might be.

Meredith said...

I like your idea of "pot luck reading feast"!!! I think I``ll try that with my friends!!! :)

Sylvie :)

Tracy said...

Recycling books is a good GREEN idea, an ideal way to promote literacy and save a bundle of money! When it comes to donating anything though - check with the agency that you wish to donate to. Many have very strict policies on what they're able to accept, whether for lack of space, or health reasons (books are often dusty). Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming local book sales. I just donated a box to a Legion's sale. I used to coordinate donations when I worked in hospital philanthropy and it broke my heart when I had to refuse donations -- giving should make you feel good, not frustrated.
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