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…and a gorgeous day for sharing love of reading. Aficianados of the printed word descended on Old Courthouse Square in downtown Santa Rosa on September 19th to browse and chat and celebrate one of our deepest common bonds. Thanks to the good folks of the organizing committee, the Free Bookmobile was there.
This was a unique event for us for a few reasons. First: We stood to gain a significant amount of awareness for our mission. Though several individuals approached to say they’d seen our story in the newspaper, or had actually been to one of our previous giveaways, most were new to the concept. Continuing to spread the good word is crucial to our success given that we rely solely on donations to replenish our stock of books. Thanks to these generous souls, we experienced a nice surge in deliveries to our drop-off locations after the Fair.
Second: We had a new friend joining us to create custom bookmarks for our guests. Rita Planchon performed her dazzling calligraphy for young and old alike, scribing names on a choice of two designs we printed specially for the occasion. Rita had a line at her table virtually the entire day as word spread around the square. The success of the free bookmarks helped me realize that it would be much more fun to promote the project in this fashion instead of with business cards.
Third: This was not a target area. Of course the Book Fair drew throngs of people from all over the county (and beyond) but let’s face it – we we’re only a few blocks from the excellent downtown Santa Rosa library. Our primary mission is to reach folks in rural areas or those with mobility challenges, and this didn’t quite fit that bill. Fortunately we aren’t much for discrimination and the opportunity to reach so many book lovers was too good to pass up.
As well we anticipated making lots of new friends, which naturally came to pass. Some of them even invited us to come visit their schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods, schools that lack libraries. One fellow told me that the Bookmobile was a good start, and urged me to take it to the next level by throwing televisions off of rooftops, “like the mullahs do in Saudi Arabia”.
I love making new friends.
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