Gratitude, From Street Books

There's a lot to be grateful for on this Thanksgiving holiday. I'm thankful for my fellow street librarian, Sue Zalokar, and how she stepped up this summer to take library shifts and help me see the long-term potential of the Street Books project. She is a huge reason that Street Books keeps on keeping on, and I appreciate her energy and good work. I'm grateful as well for Street Book's new working board: Israel Bayer, Beth Chapman & Amy Dennis. They have given their time and enthusiasm to the project, and are a stellar cast of characters to have with us. I'm grateful to the folks at Ecotrust, for their willingness to donate storage space for our books. Street Books will have a book drive there on Thursday, December 15th, from 11-4 , (721 NW 9th Avenue). It will coincide with Ecotrust's annual bake sale to benefit Raphael House, an agency helping survivors of domestic violence. Bring paperbacks down to donate, and enjoy a baked good at the same time. The rain has finally arrived in our fair city, and our winter library cards are hot off the presses. Our hours are 10-1, Mondays and Wednesdays, serving the Right2Dream camp, Old Town/China Town & the Skidmore Fountain area. We've acquired a large umbrella to open over our library (the regular-sized umbrella being a sad attempt at coverage - see photo below), and our plan is to keep running library shifts through the winter. We've realized that on the truly blustery days, when wind blows the rain sideways, and the library cart/umbrella is in danger of being blown all the way to Astoria, people are generally less motivated to gather on the street and talk about books. So on those days, we will pack it in. But we are grateful for the days that aren't too stormy. We will do our best to be outside offering good books to the people who are living there. Thanks for reading, and thanks for your support. Happy Thanksgiving from Street Books.