Michael Went Straight for the Heavy Stuff
He checked out Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, & Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Michael was a faithful library patron this past summer, and so it was great to cross paths with him again.
Joe Biel Steps up for Street Books
Got a great fan letter from Microcosm Publishing founder, Joe Biel, who invited us by to receive some donated titles. Thanks again, Joe! We love Microcosm -- they were one of our earliest supporters. I visited the shop last May to see their own haley trike (used to bike their books & zines around), and received a donation of books to start off our library collection. Very grateful for the generosity people in Portland have shown to the Street Books project.
A New Years Visit from Eric
Longtime Street Books patron, Eric, has been staying inside since Thanksgiving, when he experienced serious health issues that put him in the hospital and later in a motel room downtown, where a group of kind citizens and social service agencies teamed up to help care for him. Today when I pulled up to the Right 2 Dream Too camp, I saw Eric visiting with his friends from the camp that had been his home for over a month. He was happy to see me and the Street Books trike. There were no Westerns on the cart today, but Eric spotted a Harry Potter book and chose to take that with him. We've missed you, Eric! Happy New Year.
A Georgia Peach in the City
Brenda asked if she could read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Of course, I told her. She said she had heard good things about the book and has been wanting to read it. She tucked the book inside one of her many blankets and said with a sweet Southern drawl, "It's cold here." I asked where she had come from. She told me she and her boyfriend had arrived in Portland just a few days before. "I'm still trying to get used to the change in the weather," she told me. Brenda, meet Lisbeth Salander.
Mohammed Seeks the Spirit
Mohammed approached the cart exclaiming, "Happy New Year, Happy New Year!" He addressed everyone he passed on his way over. He asked about the cart and asked if I was selling books. It's a library, I told him, splitting my orange and offering him half. "You are a beautiful lady, lady," he said. He wanted some spiritual books. I have some Christian books, I told him. He settled on a selection of daily meditations.
Lord of the Flies, Revisited
In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, Golding puts forth the idea that a group of young people, left to their own devices on a remote island, will revert to savagery (spoiler alert: it gets pretty freakin' savage). I spotted a copy of the book in our Street Books library during my shift on Wednesday, and since I was stationed in front of the Right2Dream Too camp at 4th & Burnside, it was easy to ruminate on how the group of people maintaining the camp have done so far. They're not on a desert island, sure, and they're not children, but in many ways they have embarked on a similar kind of experiment. They have created roofs overhead, rules by which to govern themselves, and they have brought together a diverse community of people who happen to have one important commonality: lack of shelter. Now, instead of sleeping solo under a bridge, or being poked awake and told to move on by police downtown, there is a resting place where they can sleep without fear of being disturbed, or losing important possessions. I get the sense that the camp has the kind of struggles one would expect when a diverse group of people assembles and lives together amid different personalities, management styles, and ideas. But I also think that William Golding would be pleasantly surprised to see the society built at Right2Dream going so well.
Chuck Burys His Heart in A Favorite Book
Chuck and I met a few weeks ago at the Right 2 Dream Too camp. He was looking for Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. We didn't have the book on the cart at the time, but we were able to find a great copy to loan him.
Happy Holidays from Street Books
It has been a great year of building friendships and literacy. From the Street Books family to yours, best wishes for a happy holiday season!
Sahar Takes a Book for her Son
Sahar was happy to find a children's book on the cart. She took it for her son. Her first language is Arabic. Though her English is quite good, she is working to improve her reading skills. Reading books aloud with her son helps to work on pronunciation and vocabulary. I plan to look through our back stock of books to find some more books for Sahar and her son.
Erneste Returns Three, Makes a Donation
Erneste came to me last week and told me he was sorry, but he had passed the books he had borrowed onto someone else. He wasn't sure they would come back. I told him that was okay. We were happy to have books in the hands of readers. When I pulled up to the camp this morning, he flagged me down happily. His friend had returned the books to him which he promptly returned to Street Books. And he made a donation of a new book too! Thanks, Erneste!
Visitors Welcome at R2DToo
City of Portland commissioner, Randy Leonard (center), made a visit to Right 2 Dream Too with camp organizers Mike Dee (left) and Ibrahim Mubarak (right) after a meeting at city hall to discuss the future of the relationship between R2DToo and the city.
Tony Checks Out the Library
I hadn't even made it a block away from Pedicabs, where the Street Books trike sleeps, when I stopped to meet Tony. He was intrigued by the mobile library concept, and he even found a book that fit the bill for him. See you in Old Town, Tony!
The Dragon Tattoo Makes the Rounds
Raylene returned The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo first thing this morning. It is one of our most circulated books. She wants to finish the other Street Books title she is reading before she takes another, but she said she will look for Laura on Wednesday. See you then, Raylene.
Betty, a Woman of Faith
Betty stopped by Street Books while I was stationed at 4th and Burnside today. Recently, the Right 2 Dream Too camp donated two bibles and this books of Psalms...much to Betty's delight. She was on her way to work at the Portland Rescue Mission.
A New Patron with a Thirst for Patterson
Trish isn't the only Street books patron who loves to read James Patterson's books. She was thrilled to see one she hadn't read yet. She also chose to take The 8th Confession, though she confesses she's already read it. She told me it had been a long time and she was looking forward to rereading it as much as digging into a new book.
J.C. Took Three
J.C. was passing the time on the waterfront listening to his transistor radio when we met today. He said the cold dry weather is better for him than the warmer, rainy weather. There ain't no replacing the sun he told me. As I pedaled away, he was already cracking the spine on one of his three selections.
William Hails Street Books for Curbside Service
I wasn't quite sure, but as I was pedaling through Old Town, I thought perhaps this fellow was flagging me down. He was a block and a half away and waving his arms all the while moving toward me. I made my way over to him and sure enough, he was flagging me down. "I have some books to return to you," he said. He traded two fantasy books he had borrowed last week for two more. Plenty more where those came from. See you next week, William!
Bentley Is Writing a Book of His Own
He lit up when he saw a Webster's Dictionary on the cart. "This is what I need," he said. He is writing his memoirs and with no computer, that means he is doing it the old fashioned way. We hope to have a copy of your book to loan to others one day, Bentley.
Derek Returned a Few and Took a New
I had stopped the library as I was pedaling through Old Town to meet up with a patron who was waving me down. As we were standing there, Derek came up to me and said, "I have been looking for you. I've got some books to return." We agreed to rendezvous at the Right 2 Dream Too camp in a few moments, where Derek made his returns and took a new book with him.