2/16/25 – OK, kids, it’s time to focus in.
The paperwork was filed on 9/22/25, so technically this all started in September, but effectively it was really October. The first 2 months were just trying to get ducks in a row. December was…well…December. As it is every year. January I started to focus the direction, and narrow the activities, but then February came with the Shelving Hiatus.
So, now it’s time to get in gear. I’ve put my toes in, I’ve talked to people, started building relationships and connections. I am getting a feel for how the behind-the-scenes works. I think I have a moderate handle on the “economics” of the movement of books locally and beyond. And I’m getting a comfortable working knowledge of where and who and why there are too many of this type of book here, and not enough of that type there.
There is still a *lot* more to learn. If I was doing a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle, I’d be at the point where I’ve sorted out the edge pieces, and decided on the major color-grouping first-pass sort. Still waaaaay at the beginning, but I know the shape, the size, the colors. I have a plan, and I have the first bits in my hands, ready to go.
So, this is the short- and medium-term focus:
1) Continue to build relationships with community educators, literacy advocates, book people, and general busy-bodies
2) Come up with an *easy* way (forum based website?) for the various literacy groups to communicate with each other.
3) Introduce this communication method to the local and then greater Bay Area literacy groups (libraries, schools, etc)
4) Continue to take in limited donations of books – particularly full-estate donations. Start being able to redirect smaller donations to the groups that can absorb them.
5) Use those donations to generate funds and certificates to bookstores or online sites, to give to the school libraries
6) Find volunteers to help build a better website, move and sort books, and help with the give-away free part
7) Do free-book give-away events, to move the books that have been donated, and (hopefully) generate donations that will be given to the schools
8) Find other ways to move the books sitting in the stacks
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