Sunday, March 9, 2014

My Weekend Trip to Atlanta

Most of my work days are spent here at my desk at home, copy editing scholarly books, usually on topics of education. It's interesting work, and there are definite pluses to being able to do it from home.

Then, once or twice a month, I get to write an article for a web site promoting good things happening here in the Upstate of South Carolina--a little bit of spending money for some pretty interesting work, learning about what's going on around me.

But hands down, the most rewarding work I do all year--if "work" can even describe something that brings so much personal satisfaction--is heading up Great Kids Deserve Great Books, the annual children's book drive of Hub City Writers Project in Spartanburg, now in its 4th year.

Great Kids Deserve Great Books collects books to give to each student in high-poverty schools here in Spartanburg, and nothing could be closer to my heart than that.

The first two years I lived here, I was involved only in the sorting of books and distribution at one of the schools. Having worked in two different children's book mail order businesses, I had a good handle on the sorting part, determining the proper age range for each book, making sure there was a good mix of boy/girl, fiction/nonfiction, advanced reader/emerging reader, and so on. But with mail order, you never get to actually see a kid pick up a book and get excited about it.

So going to that school and being with the kids when they picked out their books--well, I was in smitten. In love. Besotted. Not only were these kids picking out their books, but they were being given the books to take home, and some of these kids may have never owned a book before. I wanted to do it again.

Last year, I was asked to head up the drive, and in addition to the bin collections we had done the previous two years, we were given a donation from the Rotary Club, and with that, I went down to Atlanta to GABBS, the spring remainder and overstock sale, and bought nearly 1,000 books. I was familiar with this sale because I used to go there and buy books to sell in catalogs, thinking about sales projections and profit margin and catalog slots. But this time all I was thinking about was getting as many books as I possibly could for the money I had available.

I loved being able to get so many new books to mix in with the donated used books, and once again I got to go to one of the schools while the kids picked out their books. You may have to know me well to understand how close to heaven that was, being able to buy books and give them all away to kids. To be there with kids as they looked over the books to make their choices. One child tearfully came up to me and asked if there was another Sponge Bob book, because other kids had snatched up the two or three on the table, and I was able to find a different book to make her happy, which very nearly made my own heart explode with happiness. Another  boy came and asked me if I had any snake books, and once more, the answer was no, but we were able to find something he liked. Another satisfied customer.

This year, we got twice as much money donated, this time from Advance America, and again, this past weekend, I went to Atlanta to buy books. I had to use that money to cover the expenses of my trip as well as buying books, so I had to be as frugal as I could be--and not shy about asking the vendors to work with me since I wasn't reselling their books but giving them away.

One of the vendors donated the shipping costs so that I could just spend my money on books. Another took a percentage off of the total to offset the shipping. Yet another gave me her rock bottom prices on the books I was buying (and this is a business with thin margins to begin with) because shipping was out of her control. I'm still waiting to hear from the last vendor, because she was checking with the owner to see how they could help.

There are a lot of things I have loved doing professionally over the years, but I can't think of anything that has given me so much sheer joy as these trips to Atlanta for this show. Back when I was buying books for resale, I loved the book shows, and the remainder shows in particular. Row upon row of books--but more than that, books on sale. For cheap. It doesn't get much better than that for a frugal book lover! And I could, and did, wheel and deal. But as much as I loved it then, doing my best to drive up our margins and down our cost of goods, there is nothing quite so rewarding as buying books that you get to give away to kids.

In a few weeks, the boxes of books will begin to arrive, which will pretty much be like Christmas for me. Then the process of sorting and boxing these books, as well as other donated books we collect, to distribute to our schools. I ended up being able to buy over 1700 books in all. I found not one, but two books about snakes, and I hope the snake boy will be back and find one of them. I have dreams of him growing up to be a preeminent reptile scientist, but even if he doesn't, I'll be happy to send him home with a couple of books to call his own.

These kids in these schools may not have been dealt the best hand in life, but they really are great kids. And great kids do, truly, deserve great books.

17 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. How wonderful for you! As a fellow book lover, I am envious of your ability to do all that you did in one weekend! How profoundly satisfying it must be to give a book to a child. And this many? I would be euphoric. Good for you. Congratulations on a successful mission.

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  3. Sounds like a fantastic project to be involved in and a great complement to your other work. It's so important for kids to get the reading habit early. Hopefully some of these children will be able to stick with it.

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  4. What a wonderful project!!! Applause!!! I'm flabbergasted that you could get so much done in a weekend, but I guess your mission infused that energy! Truly, I am humbled by your spirit and generosity.

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  5. Sounds like a great trip. Have never been to Atlanta. About 25 years ago someone wanted to introduce me to Ted Turner and claimed he would hire me for CNN. But since that meant moving to Atlanta I wasn't interested. If they had already then had an office in New York or London I would definitely have been interested. By the way, I love books and reading is how I get by in life:-)

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  6. Quite a weekend in Atlanta ! This is a very worthwhile project. Whenever I hear the "Give a man a fishing rod" saying I always think "Give a kid some books !"

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  7. That is so great. Everyone should be able to read as many books as possible. Good for you for taking part in such a wonderful project.

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  8. I so loved this project. Being a former elementary school teacher, this really made me smile and warmed my heart. I love it that many organizations found it in there hearts to help out. What a wonderful thing for these kids who will have a chance to actually hold and own a book or two. :-)))

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  9. This sound like a great and fulfilling project. I'm sure you are inspiring other to be great..

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  10. What I wonderful project. I was an avid reader as a child. Still am. I remember the delight in receiving a book as a gift. It's great to give that joy to someone who might never otherwise have it.

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  11. That is such a great project. I used read alot and now I don't spend the time like I used. I still the feel and smell of a book and I not into reading on electronic devices. Kids need to get involved in books and not Ipads

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  12. There are some really fascinating studies about the difference that having books in your home as a child makes on your future achievement. Children from high poverty homes often have less than 10 books in their whole home- and probably none of them are children's books. What a great program!

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  13. What a great idea. Books matter so much. As an English teacher, it soon became apparent to me which students came from homes with books in them. Not to generalize too much, but those students were always much better readers. I only made it to Spartanburg once when I was living in Charlotte, but now I'm back on the other side of the country.

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  14. If one is going to do "community service" as I call it, there is no better way to do it than getting involved with children's literacy. Excellent cause and a nice recap of the process.

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  15. Great job! Books are the key to learning and moving forward to a better life

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  16. I am an avid reader and have special passion for books. I spend a lot of time promoting personal development books to everyone around me.

    And therefore, all I can say is - Wow! What an accomplishment! I admire your energy and enthusiasm to get so much done in a weekend!

    Regards,
    Kumar

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  17. What a fabulous initiative and what a joy and honour to be part of it. Fabulous work and I am sure the kids will not only appreciate it but remember and cherish these books for years to come.

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