Comments on: Community Bookcase: Next Steps

By: karass

karass — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:20:51 +0000

Re the point of a community bookshelf: Exactly. It’s equivalent to recipe swapping or chuch consignment sales. It’s the desire to share, connect, and not let treasured items go to waste.

By: Cat

Cat — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 15:49:38 +0000

I think the point is to enable people in the community who love books and want to share their books with other community members/Decaturites. This is (to me) like asking “what’s the point of the Oakhurst garden?” There’s a long list of why it’s a good thing but a biggie is that it makes people feel good and connected to their community (both its people and literally the place they live in).

I agree that you need a permanent location to make this work. You could set up a table at the farmer’s market or at the book festival and have a book swap but chances are you’ll end up with a bunch of books and then what? At some point this becomes a project/labor of love and you need someone to be in charge.

These folks have given some thoughts to what to do with books you no longer need http://for.theloveofbooks.com/2009/03/donate-books/

By: pwd

pwd — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 01:34:47 +0000

this is a quaint idea, but like others i don’t see the point in doing it. maybe if this were in a location where people were regularly standing and waiting (marta, eg) it would be useful

By: Swill

Swill — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 23:54:55 +0000

Now this is a cool idea.

Leftovers could go to the public library. The unwanted will be lovingly accepted, organized so they are findable by future seekers, and protected from the elements. No one has to figure out guidelines, or funding, or who’s responsible for broken doors, or what space on sidewalks or foyers or other public areas we are willing to give up.

Let’s go for it.

By: Decatur Metro

Decatur Metro — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 21:57:53 +0000

Forgot to respond to this earlier Cat, but that’s a freakin’ great idea.