Sunday, January 22, 2012

A Novel Idea

While all of you are hunkering down in between football and Downton Abbey viewings today, you may want to revisit your bookcase. Maybe you have a lot of books you've read, but really aren't that special to you any more. What to do with these unnecessary tomes can be a moral dilemma since no one just wants to put them out with the trash.

Thanks to a chance meeting at Whole Foods in Union Square, I have found a solution, at least for New Yorkers: ReLit.org

Started by a group of volunteers, ReLit.org has kiosks at two Whole Foods outlets and at Brooklyn's Invisible Dog Arts Center, where anyone can drop off books to be distributed monthly at subway stops.

Their mission statement: We want to encourage and promote reading to all age groups and provide free and easy access of reading to do so.

At the same time, we wish to discourage throwing out vast quantities of unwanted books that never get recycled properly. We hope that our program will facilitate in the sharing of these unwanted items that no one in the city has room to keep and provide not only a cost-free but also an environmentally friendly reading option.

As someone who comes from a family of librarians and educators as well as a firm believer in upcycling, I applaud this group's efforts and hope this grassroots movement gains momentum and spreads to other geographical areas.

Check out their site: http://www.relitny.org


2012 Rosemary Flannery All Rights Reserved