Give it away, Give it away, Give it away, Now
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In case anyone was wondering, I do not have a patent on giving away books.
In case anyone was wondering, I do not have a patent on giving away books. I do not even have a patent on collecting unwanted books. As I have said in the past, all I am is a middle man. People from all over have sent The Book Thing books. Some have even driven hundreds of miles to deliver books to our door. While we take the books and find them good homes, there are people everywhere that can use the books. Grab a handful and leave them in a bus shelter, leave a couple at the dentist's office, place a box labeled "Free Books" in front of the grocery store, take advantage of Craigslist or Freecycle and folks waiting in line at the MVA could use some long novels. See? The possibilities are endless.
Let me tell you a secret, institutions say no, individuals say yes. Someone is downsizing/spring cleaning/moving and they have a load of National Geographics they need to get rid of, so they call the local library (an Institution). The library says they don't want them, call the local school (an Institution). The local school says they don't want them, drop them off at The Book Thing. So they end up here and are taken by library patrons ( Individuals), students (Individuals) and teachers (Individuals).
Comments
Be Nice to Volunteers!
I had a terrible experience with Russell. I wanted to volunteer and he shouted at me that they didn't need my help and the most useful thing I could do was go home. Completely turned me off to the place, even though I think the service they provide is wonderful. It was really upsetting.
ANGRY MAN / GOOD DEED
How is it such an angry and rude person like Russell can do something so good for so many others. You would think that someone who is creating such a great service for others would be happy, feel good about waking up every day knowing he is contributing something to society, but not Russell. Anyone who has been to The Book Thing of Baltimore and has had an encounter with Russell, knows exactly what I am talking about. I mean come on Russell if you are so miserable doing so much good then get out of the business, let someone else who is lighter spirited take over. You live in a major city with a population of almost 650,000 people with deep roots of being readers. Lets be honest sometimes there are people out there who ask dumb questions sometimes but you have to expect that from time to time in such a large city, but being the guy who started this great thing that helps so many people, it still does not give you the right to blow off the handle with people. I have been going to the book thing for quite some time now and I have seen Russell come down pretty brutal on some people. I am not just talking about customers but volunteers too. I mean people who are donating there time to help this guy out with the tremendous amount of books he has to keep up with stamping and stocking. It almost makes you wonder if he has some alternate motive to this whole book thing. So the question is: how is it such an angry, rude, disrespectful man can start something so good for society? and why would such a person do something like that? Why not let someone more patient, kind hearted, respectful and customer friendly run the place?