Spring Break
Literary community bonds at The Book Thing
Issue date: 10/29/09
When every click on a Google link leads to banner ads for a "Free iPod for the first 10 users who guess this celebrity by her nose!" it is no wonder that people regard the word "free" with distrust. Russell Wattenberg, founder of The Book Thing of Baltimore, sees this cynicism every day. In fact, he no longer advertises, because as he said, "With something like this, unless you hear it from a friend, people don't believe it."
Well, believe it folks. At The Book Thing of Baltimore, the books are free. Of course, rules apply. But not the kind you would expect.
When you see the sign that says keep out, keep out, even if it's 'just' to ask a question. This is the first rule of The Book Thing, a warehouse-like building on Vineyard Lane that accepts donated books and allows any passerby to take them home for free.
That might sound like a harsh rule, especially when it's repeated as rules number three, five and seven as well. But really, it's for the best.
Not only are the volunteers inside extremely busy stamping and sorting books, but also, if you stick your head through a curtain that says "Keep Out," you might get hit in the face. The volunteers back there sort books with the same practiced ease with which a bank teller counts bills. Fiction, this box. Nonfiction, another box. Books are flying left and right, and if somebody pokes a head in, that poor sucker might end up with a face full of James Patterson.
Rule number two: Write down your name and the number of books you take before you leave.
This lets Wattenberg and the other volunteers know how many books are being taken, where they are going and how many people are coming through. This information has helped the nonprofit Book Thing get funding from foundations in the past.
The last and most revealing rule? BE GREEDY. PLEASE. As if the capital letters weren't emphatic enough, someone has also taken the time to go around to each sign and circle this rule.
The Book Thing is not a bookstore. These books won't cost you anything except the 10 minute walk from Homewood; you won't even have to pay for a cab or a bus to get you there. This isn't even a library, where you have to wonder if the librarian is judging you for taking out the latest in legal thrillers instead of a classic. Here, a whole bookcase of romance novels awaits you. If you want it, you're the only one who has to know. Take it.
Well, believe it folks. At The Book Thing of Baltimore, the books are free. Of course, rules apply. But not the kind you would expect.
When you see the sign that says keep out, keep out, even if it's 'just' to ask a question. This is the first rule of The Book Thing, a warehouse-like building on Vineyard Lane that accepts donated books and allows any passerby to take them home for free.
That might sound like a harsh rule, especially when it's repeated as rules number three, five and seven as well. But really, it's for the best.
Not only are the volunteers inside extremely busy stamping and sorting books, but also, if you stick your head through a curtain that says "Keep Out," you might get hit in the face. The volunteers back there sort books with the same practiced ease with which a bank teller counts bills. Fiction, this box. Nonfiction, another box. Books are flying left and right, and if somebody pokes a head in, that poor sucker might end up with a face full of James Patterson.
Rule number two: Write down your name and the number of books you take before you leave.
This lets Wattenberg and the other volunteers know how many books are being taken, where they are going and how many people are coming through. This information has helped the nonprofit Book Thing get funding from foundations in the past.
The last and most revealing rule? BE GREEDY. PLEASE. As if the capital letters weren't emphatic enough, someone has also taken the time to go around to each sign and circle this rule.
The Book Thing is not a bookstore. These books won't cost you anything except the 10 minute walk from Homewood; you won't even have to pay for a cab or a bus to get you there. This isn't even a library, where you have to wonder if the librarian is judging you for taking out the latest in legal thrillers instead of a classic. Here, a whole bookcase of romance novels awaits you. If you want it, you're the only one who has to know. Take it.
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