Inspiring Reading Choices
Libraries are awesome. The article listed below starts with that and I have to agree. Libraries, books, reading, awesome. I love the thought that out there people are putting together libraries however they can to help people read and bringing some joy to as many as possible.
It takes a special person to come up with these ideas. It goes to show you what you can achieve with whatever little you have.
There are many schemes run by various groups to encourage reading, I myself have only been involved with World Book Day before. It's a great way to get kids to read, but every scheme has its flaws. I will say this is only my opinion but they have an unfortunate over enthusiastic view on how the world works. In an ideal world every child lives near a bookshop. In an ideal world every parent is willing to spend money on a book. In an ideal world vouchers get given to the kids and taken home to their parents. From talking to librarians and teachers this isn't the case, but it should be. Why has reading become such an unpopular past time? I love having a book in my hand, and although I'm a tech geek I will always love the feel of holding a physical book as apposed to my iPad.
I was thinking about other random reading ideas I'd heard about or seen and a couple spring to mind. One I saw not so long ago was at Morden tube station where they have a small bookshelf just after you pass through the gates, I didn't get a chance to stop to look or ask the staff about it but even if there is no specific scheme behind it, it still gives people a fantastic and eclectic selection of books to choose from.
A friend of mine had said they'd heard from a friend who'd heard from a friend about a book gifting idea. Basically these friends had read a book and passed it on to the next. No agenda, just the promise that once you've read it, love it or hate it, you'll give it to someone else. Another version of this is that you stick a piece of paper into the front cover with a brief code of ethics and then you put your email address underneath, sort of like a date label for library returns. You basically promise to read the book and gift it on via a public place so someone random will find it and hopefully discover its exciting tale. You promise that you will leave it somewhere safe where it wont easily get discarded or wet, or anywhere it might just get assimilated into an existing collection and forgotten. Before you leave it for its onward journey you email the last person on the list and tell them what you thought of the book. It's a lovely idea and a great way to exchange your thoughts with someone else.
Trying to Google that last one I came across Bookcrossing.com and it's a similar thing, you can label your books up and track them online where ever they may go. I read the following on one of their pages and thought it was something that we should all do once in a while...
"Pass your book on to a friend, a stranger, a strange friend, or a friendly stranger."
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| http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/three-libraries-in-unexpected-places |
There are many schemes run by various groups to encourage reading, I myself have only been involved with World Book Day before. It's a great way to get kids to read, but every scheme has its flaws. I will say this is only my opinion but they have an unfortunate over enthusiastic view on how the world works. In an ideal world every child lives near a bookshop. In an ideal world every parent is willing to spend money on a book. In an ideal world vouchers get given to the kids and taken home to their parents. From talking to librarians and teachers this isn't the case, but it should be. Why has reading become such an unpopular past time? I love having a book in my hand, and although I'm a tech geek I will always love the feel of holding a physical book as apposed to my iPad.
I was thinking about other random reading ideas I'd heard about or seen and a couple spring to mind. One I saw not so long ago was at Morden tube station where they have a small bookshelf just after you pass through the gates, I didn't get a chance to stop to look or ask the staff about it but even if there is no specific scheme behind it, it still gives people a fantastic and eclectic selection of books to choose from.
A friend of mine had said they'd heard from a friend who'd heard from a friend about a book gifting idea. Basically these friends had read a book and passed it on to the next. No agenda, just the promise that once you've read it, love it or hate it, you'll give it to someone else. Another version of this is that you stick a piece of paper into the front cover with a brief code of ethics and then you put your email address underneath, sort of like a date label for library returns. You basically promise to read the book and gift it on via a public place so someone random will find it and hopefully discover its exciting tale. You promise that you will leave it somewhere safe where it wont easily get discarded or wet, or anywhere it might just get assimilated into an existing collection and forgotten. Before you leave it for its onward journey you email the last person on the list and tell them what you thought of the book. It's a lovely idea and a great way to exchange your thoughts with someone else.
Trying to Google that last one I came across Bookcrossing.com and it's a similar thing, you can label your books up and track them online where ever they may go. I read the following on one of their pages and thought it was something that we should all do once in a while...
"Pass your book on to a friend, a stranger, a strange friend, or a friendly stranger."
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