The Bright Lights Book Project: Strength in Numbers
Contributed by Alys Culhane
One of my favorite Bright Lights Book Project tasks is stocking our Palmer based community bookcases. Palmer is our bookcase epicenter; however, we also have Wasilla, Sutton, Eagle River, and Chickaloon bookcase locations.
Here distributors meet appreciative readers who are in the process of picking out books for themselves or their children or grandchildren. My favorite distribution locations are currently the Big Dipper Ice Cream Store, Lekker Bakery, the Bleeding Heart Brewery, and the Palmer High School Public Pool.
I equate distributing in these venues with eating ice cream, drinking hot chocolate, downing a beer, and going for a swim. The pool bookcase is the most ideal site in that it complements the BLBP combined vision and mission statements – we envision literacy to change lives by making books accessible to readers of all ages.
Upon entering the Palmer Public Pool lobby, you immediately see the bookcase, which is against the far wall. On the left side of the lobby are benches. Here, pool patrons wait for family members and friends to emerge from locker rooms. On any given day, children and adults are either picking out or reading books.
I, with a bin of books in hand, greet the pool patrons, and ask them if there’s anything in particular that they’re looking for. If so, I write their request in my back pocket notebook and bring the book with me the following day.
Stocking the shelves is a life-affirming activity. However, time doesn’t allow me to tell BLBP readers that although I’m the founder of this amazing nonprofit organization, our success is inextricably linked to community support.
If time permitted, I’d provide readers with more specifics as this relates to the acquisition of BLBP books. Yes, the bookcase guardians, in this instance, the ice cream shop clerks, the bakery baristas, the brewmasters, and the Palmer Pool lifeguards, have from Day #1, in interacting with the public, championed our cause.
However, these wonderful individuals are just the tip of the iceberg. There would be no books on hand if it weren’t for those, who behind the scenes, put considerable time and energy into this project.
The books come from a wide variety of sources including parents, thrift stores, school districts, educators, school and public librarians, and as well, those who’ve decided that they need to downsize. We’ve taken in books from Alaskan villages and been sent books from the Lower 48. The commonality these sources share is that they want the books that they are parting with to end up in the hands of appreciative readers, the alternative being local dumps.
The BLBP website has guidelines as to what we’ll take – we eschew moldy, torn, and waterlogged books as well as encyclopedias and what some call bodice rippers. Worn out vintage children’s books are always welcome – our artist-in-residence, Cathy Stone, delights in matching illustrations to words. The Frame Shop in Palmer has also provided Cathy with matt board.
There’s a process in which the now BLBP books are made ready for the public. Over two dozen volunteers clean, sort, and stamp children’s books. Lois Liebing, a former Elementary school teacher, categorizes them. The board, picture, lower elementary, upper elementary, middle and high school, and graphic novels are then shelved and distributed or sent to villages. The process works pretty much the same way for grown-up nonfiction and fiction books.
Volunteers also assist in BLBP event planning and participation. Kudos to Mat-Su Borough Animal Shelter volunteer coordinator Stacie Winsor, who recently hosted an animal literacy story time, and to Dave Dorsey, who brought two beagles and a basset hound to our the BLBP children read to Dogs event children read to dogs. Dave heads up the Alaska Beagle Ranch, a nonprofit organization that creates a nurturing environment for Beagles and hounds through rescue, adoption, shelter, and ongoing education.
And Kudos to the many volunteers who helped out at the recent Palmer Chamber of Commerce sponsored Trick or Street event. This included Amber Jackson and her two children, Jayvyn and Paloma, who both gave the BLBP and Kids Kupboard a much-needed assist. This was no small feat – the BLBP passed out books to over 1,000 children and Kids Kupboard passed out over 963 sticks of string cheese.
If time permitted, I’d point all the above out to our appreciative readers and add that we, along with Fireside Books and the Friends of the Palmer Public Library, are creating a community in which its citizenry identifies as readers.
Lastly, I’d mention that the BLBP has recently partnered with the Alaska Literacy Program. Together we are pushing on the boundaries of accessibility by offering literacy-related classes and tutoring for adults and children.
Alys Culhane, the Executive Director of the Bright Lights Book Project, is looking forward to the day in which she has time to take swimming lessons. In the meantime, she continues to tread water.