What Inspires: Random Reading Opportunities

Phone booths are all but obsolete…Page turners are being replaced by electronic scroll bars…Libraries are being cut as callously as carbs from the At kin’s Diet. Still, book lovers find a way…

A  while back I read how the kitsch red British phone booths were being tossed into the Public Works refuse lots and left to rot. Until, that is, book starved folks in rural areas began turning them into lending libraries. I wondered how it came about: Did someone desperate to make a call, maybe in need of roadside assistance, race into a phone booth, dial and dash. And  in his/her haste leave behind a pocket novel, which was picked up some days later by a passer-bye who picked it up and read it. Then, a good read later, returned it, along with a few of his/her pre-read selections, to the phone booth. Maybe even called a friend to tell them of this brilliant deposit/depository and thus the phone-booth turned honor-system lending library–a “free” library in the truest sense–was born. No matter how it started, the craze caught on and now red British phone booths are being refurbished and redeposited as libraries.

It's a Phone Booth...It's a Changing Room...No, It's a Library!

Folks in Clinton, New York caught onto the Phone Booth-turned-Library trend with “America’s Littlest Library” http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/891988-264/town_of_clinton_ny_opens.html.csp

I’ve noticed how phone booths in the U.S are similarly disappearing; In other countries, too. They are disappearing so quickly that at the brand-new Jakarta airport terminal they installed the phone stations but never even bothered with the phones…instead the kiosks are and seem destined to remain un-phoned. Sad how phone booths in the UK become libraries while U.S. phone booths have become toilets… what’s that say? (I digress…)

But not all of them! NYC Architect, John Locke, is refurbishing phone booths for use as libraries. He’s designed a shelving unit that fits inside the phone booth casing easily.

Care to Read a Little Somthing While Waiting for that Call?

Then a note about the newest wave in libraries flew across my screen and bouyed my spirits:  Birdhouse Libraries. These lending libraries mounted on poles look more like marten houses. But they are definitely not for the birds. A  not-for-profit organization called “Little Free Library” http://www.littlefreelibrary.org/ has taken it upon itself :

• To promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide.

• To build a sense of community as we share skills, creativity and wisdom across generations.
• To build more than 2,510 libraries around the world–more than Andrew Carnegie!

By setting up these road-sized lending libraries all over the place. The website shares lots of examples of these Book Houses. There are even directions how to build your own. Why not build one and mount it in your own front yard.Phone Booths . Birdhouse Libraries.Say, maybe–with the state of the postal service–mailbox libraries are next?

There are few things as satisfying as reaching the best ending to a story. There’s that awe moment followed by a smile…and the smile lingers!

As those of you who have been following my blog know, my sis-in-law Marilyn was diagnosed with breast cancer last September. (Read Nov. 11 blog posting, “Helping Hearts.”) I could use up all my words describing what “treatment” entailed (and still not get it right) nor do I want to. That’s not what this is about.

This day is for rejoicing, for celebrating, for breathing a long-overdue awe and for smiling.

I’ll let Marilyn tell you her news, her way! (excerpted from e-mail note, Mar. 13, 2012 entitled “10 Days After“)

Hi Everyone!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your love, support, humor, and so very much more. I’ve made it through my last chemo treatment and the hardest days that follow chemo. I feel good, am able to get out, drive, swim, take restorative yoga classes, and then rest as needed. My mind has more energy than my body so I have to watch what I think I can do versus what I actually should/can do.

I’ve never been a  big fan of “losing” an hour each spring, but this year the gaining light matches my coming out from under the cloud of the last 6 months of cancer treatment. Like the light, the dawning that the chemo is behind is coming slowly as I absorb the reality. I saw one of the oncologists this morning, not my primary one, to get the needed results of blood work at the 10 day mark after Taxotere chemotherapy. It’s the point  when the blood counts can be at their lowest. All were in great shape. The way any meeting with an oncologist starts is with side effect:  “Is it normal that all my teeth feel like they have cavities?” “What should I do about this red rash on the top of my  hand?”  “Still have tingling in fingertips and some pain.” I forgot to ask, “Do you think these fingernails are going to fall off?” (Losing fingernails sometimes occurs with Taxol and Taxotere.) Not that any of these side effects are big concerns, the tingly/numb fingers are the worst of them. It’s kind of interesting to see what happens.

When I happened to review the list, the brutal mental/emotional testing made more sense. By this last treatment, the emotional part was much, much better. I think it being the last treatment helped in a couple of ways that I wasn’t aware of before. First, I wasn’t having to unconsciously conserve my energy for the treatments coming. There was a certain amount of steeling myself for the long run that I wasn’t aware of. Second, again unconsciously, I was always wondering how long the various side effects were going to last, if they would increase in intensity or be long standing: sores in mouth, nausea, diarrhea, fever, pain, numbness, etc. (I list these here for a look into the experience of chemo.) There is a term “the new normal” that is batted around a lot, meaning there will be side effects that will stay with you after treatment that weren’t there before. One new normal is the numbness on my underarm after surgery on my lymph nodes. It feels like I’m putting deodorant on over clothing. I’m very fortunate. There are many, many side effects that I don’t have.

I asked the doctor today what I should call my present state –post cancer, cured, what? He said that I was “no evidence of disease” (NED) and that my breast cancer has been “treated.”

“NED” is what I think I’ll throw around at cocktail parties. The drugs that I’m taking now, one he called a heat seeking missile, significantly reduce the chance of cancer returning.

At the cancer center, when a patient finishes the final chemo treatment, she/he gets to ring a bell. I was a little shy about doing it, but it was very satisfying once I did.

Marilyn Ringing the Bell

NED…the name has a lovely ring to it!

Today, March 7th is World Read Aloud Day!

World Read Aloud Day is about taking action to show the world that the right to read and write belongs to all people. World Read Aloud Day motivates children, teens, and adults worldwide to celebrate the power of words, especially those words that are shared from one person to another, and creates a community of readers advocating for every child’s right to a safe education and access to books and technology.

Lit World is a non-profit organization dedicated to spreading the written word! (According to LitWorld’s website, there are 793 million illiterate people in the world. ) Find out more about LitWorld, register to be part of the worldwide read aloud, donate, get involved–and most importantly READ and spread the written word!

ACG School in Jakarta celebrated with a week-long Book Fest!

What better way to celebrate World Read Aloud Day than by Buddy Reading…and, it just so happens some wonderful reader posted  a read-aloud of NOT NORMAN, A GOLDFISH STORY on U-Tube. So, get cozy, grab a buddy and READ!

NOT NORMAN, A GOLDFISH STORY, Buddy Read-Aloud: If the hyperlink doesn’t click, cut and paste this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE_bId4fr28

And here’s a little ditty to celebrate the day (Get ready to channel Karen Carpenter’s version of Sing!):

Read/Read a Book/Read out loud/Read out looooong/

Don’t worry that you’re not good enough for anyone else to hear/

Just read/Read a Book!