September 29, 2008

Book Thing Concept

In one of the comments in the post below, Visual Vamp said that since so many of you couldn't get to the Book Thing, I should set up an on-line store and sell books to you all. I would love to sell you all the books, but I can't.
For those of you who are new here, Book Thing is a non-profit organization that gives away books to anyone and everyone. You can take one book or you can pull up a tractor trailer and fill it to the brim. There are books being donated and arriving at Book Thing around the clock - literally. They have bins out back for people to stop and donate books.

Books are given away on Saturdays and Sundays from 9-6. But 99.998% of the books at Book Thing are marked with this stamp:
The other .002% of the books are sold to support the mission of Book Thing. They are mostly rare books or first editions that have been donated, either knowingly or unknowingly. Book Thing also accepts monetary donations and receives grants from some of the foundations in Baltimore. What Russell Wattenberg, the founder of Book Thing, is doing is truly a mission to make all types of books accessible to everyone.
You can get an idea of what a bare-bones operation Book Thing is here. Seriously. No heat or air conditioning, no coffee bar and no bathrooms. The empty shelves in the middle of the image above are where the Decorating and Gardening sections are located.

So while I am happy to send you books that I find or extra copies, I just can't sell them to you.

12 comments:

  1. though god knows i've made a bit of money selling a good decorating book or two in my day, something about book thing making books available for free to all but forbidding them to be resold, just warms my heart.

    viva la book thing!

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  2. omg - i LOVE your new header!!! what's the story behind it? it's just perfect!

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  3. The next time that you visit Book Thing, Neighbor Jen and I have a bag of books for you to take. I won't be reading for fun the next 10 weeks as school has started again!

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  4. Book Thing seems quite special, so this is probably not the same, but I think Atlanta has a book exchange. Other cities must too. Worth investigating.

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  5. We have free book racks at the the post office, bank, and train station. They come and go quickly...a seemingly endless supply. The locals know where to leave their unwanted reading material. The BookThing looks amazing. I like your new header too! ~ Rosemary

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  6. I think a testament to how special the bookthing is that I've come up 3 times to visit the bookthing, and I don't even have a car! I never throw away a magazine or book and always have a pile of 'giveaways' - some to troops in iraq, some to friends and all others to the bookthing! I keep hoping I'll find a special treasure like you! Till then I'll just enjoy the regular books I find to read. I agree with your last email, I need to plan a visit SOON (before I can see my breath in the bookthing!).

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  7. Time for a new topic.

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  8. Hey Anon @ the Smithsonian... it's my blog and I will write what I want. No one is making you read this.

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  9. Bravo, PD! I generally just delete comments like that -i applaud telling them whats what!

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  10. I'm happy to learn about Book Thing. what a brilliant 'n beautiful concept!

    THIS IS A FREE BOOK

    i LOVE that!

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  11. This is extraordinary! I am not aware of anything like this in Kansas City. Books changed my life. As the oldest of eight siblings, my only child cousin gave me my 1st books to read. Her generosity opened up a whole new world for me.

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  12. I recently wrote up a short advice article on "How to Get Free Books For College," and listed Book Thing as great place, and a great concept. There are some other book swapping networks that are also worth looking into. Here's the article link:
    http://www.ehow.com/how_4725003_free-books-college.html

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