♫ It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere I go. ♫
Or Chanukah. Or Winter Solstice. Or Kwanzaa. Pick your holiday. I personally celebrate Winter Solstice, or Yule, but my traditions are probably very similar to those who celebrate the others I’ve listed.
Scott and I have a Solstice tree with little blue and white lights on an end table in our living room; we will plant it in the back yard on New Year’s Day. Presents are wrapped and tucked on the shelf under the tree. No bows on the packages yet; the tree is temptation enough for the three cats! No need to put ribbons out there, too.
I wrote a blog a few days ago titled Holiday Magic. I mentioned how people are a little nicer this time of year. This applies to me, too; the homeless man outside the CVS drug store the other day not only got an extra dollar, he got a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup as I passed him by.
What I really wanted to give him, though, was a book. One of my books, perhaps The Cabin; or some other author’s book; it really wouldn’t have mattered. Something for him to read on the chilly Southern California evenings we’ve been having.
But I wonder: would a homeless man, whose speech shows him to be a polite but probably not very educated person, appreciate a book? Would he throw it in the trash in disgust, wondering why I hadn’t given him the money the book cost instead of pages of no use or interest to him? Would he burn it for warmth?
Then I feel ashamed of myself. Just because a man is homeless doesn’t mean he cannot or does not like to read. Or does it? I am reminded of something that happened to me five or six years ago, before I moved to California. I wanted to donate some books to the men’s homeless shelter in the town where I lived in Illinois. I was bluntly told no thanks. “These guys don’t read,” the shelter manager said.
I wanted to ask him how he knew that, since there was neither a book nor magazine anywhere to be seen in the place. Still, I thanked him and moved on. The books ended up being donated to the library for their book sale.
Donating the books reminded me of a frustrating, bitter incident I’d had with that very library years before, when I first moved to that community. Our home was on the nicer end of a very poor neighborhood just outside city limits. Because of our location, outside the city borders, we could not get a library card unless we paid well over a hundred dollars a year for it. “Do you know how many books I can buy for a hundred dollars a year?” I asked the library clerk, incredulously, when told my address was outside the library district. He just gave me a sheepish look and apologized.
I fought. Not for me, but for the school-aged kids in my neighborhood, for the right to have a library card. I wrote letters, and was eventually able to schedule a meeting with the library’s director. I stated my case, but was told flatly, “Give it up. The people in that neighborhood don’t read books, anyway.”
Which people? My parents lived a block away from me; my mother was a retired nurse and school teacher. My father was the pastor of a local church. The people across the street were both veterinarians; we had at least two other school teachers on our block. Yet because our neighborhood was considered lower middle class, the library director assumed none of us could our would want to read a library book.
Seeing that man outside the CVS the other day, the one who was so thankful for an extra dollar and a peanut butter cup, brought up these old memories and made me wonder: when did enjoying a book become a privilege? When did it become elitist to enjoy good storytelling? Why wouldn’t a homeless man or woman want a book to call their own?
This holiday season, I would like to ask each of you, so many of whom have written your own books, to donate a book to a homeless shelter, or shelter for abused women, somewhere in your community. Perhaps also donate a children’s book or two, if it is a shelter that houses families. Or donate books to your local Toys for Tots drive. Just because a person is down on their luck and facing hard times doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy escaping to a better place through the pages of a book. In fact, who deserves this “privilege” more?
Happy holidays—be it Christmas, Solstice, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, or, as in our household, some combination thereof—to you all.
To Continue with the Sleigh Bells and Ink Wells Blog Hop, please visit Patricia Damery next (just click her name, below). Miss a stop on the Hop? Here’s the complete list of participants–click their names to jump to their blogs.
What a fabulous post, Smoky, and I’m definitely going to donate a book (or two!).
That’s wonderful, Melinda. Everyone needs to be given the opportunity to read. They may not accept the offer, but the opportunity needs to be given.
Thank you, Smoky, for reminding us of the joy and importance of reading. I can still picture the interior (including the shelves and what books were where) of the small town library from my childhood. Half a century has gone by, but that tiny room opened up the world to me. Its value has never diminished and still shines bright. Happy holidays, and happy reading!
My small town library was a tiny house. The librarian would pick out books for the town kids and hand deliver them if we were home sick with strep throat or the flu. As I told Melinda, above, everyone deserves the opportunity to read. They may not take up the offer, but the opportunity must be there for everyone, rich or poor.
Recent census figures which made their way into the news over the last few days showed that almost 50% of Americans are considered low income or poor. Chances are good, I think, that quite a few homeless people and low-income populations do read books.
That library director was WRONG. But then, I guess you knew that.
Malcolm
You know, I asked in this blog, “When did it become elitist to enjoy good storytelling?” I realize, the first books were only for the rich. The rich were the only ones who were educated, and who could afford to buy books. But that shouldn’t be the case now. I have a big box of books sitting by the front door to deliver to our local Salvation Army shelter later today. The Shelter director was delighted to hear I wanted to donate them. If they bring some cheer to only one resident there, I’ll be happy.
They probably don’t get as many book donations there as they can use.
I LOVE your idea of donating books to shelters (and am embarrased that I hadn’t thought of it before)! I will definitely do that this year. I was also horrified by your story about the library “boundaries.” How frustrating! I remember going to the “book mobile” when I was a little girl — a van-type vehicle stopped by our neighborhood once a week and we’d all pile in and pick armfuls of books. I’m grateful they had that service — it helped foster my love of reading.
My rant with the library director was in part triggered by the library book mobile coming to my daughter’s school to sign the second graders up for library cards. She was the only one in her (gifted) class that was told she couldn’t have a card. She cried and cried. Guess it brought the mama lioness out in me! Thanks for joining the cause of donating books to shelters so “those people” (grrrrr!) can have the opportunity to read!
Great message, Smoky! This is the perfect time of year for all of us to donate books, especially for children. If we all reach out to those in need, we can make a difference in many lives!
Thank you Ramey! I know what a wonderful activist you are, for all sorts of causes. As authors, I think it our responsibility to promote reading wherever we can.
I too love your idea of donating books to shelters. I have had some trouble donating journals to libraries! Our town does not subscribe to the professional journal of my profession (Jungian articles on life, not clinical) and when a couple of us locals offered subscriptions, they refused! There are reasons, of course (continuing into the future, etc.) but nevertheless, I think taking this into our own hands and reintroducing books to places they may not be (and Taoism was reintroduced after many years of dormancy, and it took off again!) may result in some surprises.
That is exactly what my point is. Why not give the people in the shelters the opportunity to read? They aren’t being forced. If they don’t want to pick up a book, they don’t have to. But they should be given the opportunity, and a shelter with no library–no matter how small that library–does not afford them that opportunity. As I told Ramey, as authors I feel it is our responsibility to promote reading wherever and whenever we can.
Yes, few promote reading, it seems!
What a wonderful post, Smoky, and thank you for “walking the walk” of the holiday spirit by translating good wishes into action! I was very moved to learn that many of the “Occupy” encampments established their own libraries. In my anthropology courses at UCLA, it was stressed that one of the reasons that our human intelligence evolved as it did is that we humans are born needing the care of our elders for an extended period of time, and therefore human learning becomes cumulative, each generation adding to the discoveries of previous ones, rather than the wheel getting invented over and over again. Books are so much the vehicle of that transmission of story and knowledge…and FREE public libraries should be a given in a country that cares about its future.
I couldn’t say it better, Sharon. Libraries are food for the soul. And the mind.
Goodness, I remember going to the library with my card, my sister’s and my father’s! At that time, you could only check out 5 on each card. I read through the Youth section and started reading in the adult Science Fiction. I ate books.
Having worked with homeless issues and people for the past decade, I would say…no, I can’t say what I would say to the homeless director or that librarian! I have met homeless people who were college professors. Labeling people is one of “simplifying by categorizing” things we do (see my blog post “The Stay Alive Rule”). Okay, down from soap box. Thanks for your excellent post and idea (my office-neighbor collects books for the homeless and they call begging for more) and for organizing the blog hop. Much fun and great to meet all these wonderful writers!
Thanks for organizing the blog hop and reminding us of the importance of donating books. I do this often — to libraries and charities. It’s my favorite way to give back to the community.
Great post! My sisters and I donate books to various organizations. Mostly, it’s Senior homes, the “homes” for the homeless, and the youth centers. With three sisters, that’s three grocery bags a month. Every little bit helps.