[image error] Tonight is World Book Night,
and I was honored to be one of the "givers" in the inaugural U.S.
event. I had requested (and received) 20 copies of Tim O'Brien's
Vietnam-set short story collection "The Things They Carried." Late last week, I called the Veteran's Guest House
in Reno (which recently won a Home Depot contest worth $250,000 which
they will be using to remodel and expand the facility) to see if they
would be interested in having a few copies of the book. Once half of my
copies were spoken for, I set out to downtown Reno looking for worthy
recipients for my other ten books.


Thinking that road-weary bus travelers might enjoy a good book with
which to share the road, I stopped in at the Greyhound station only to
find it completely empty. I began walking around the depot when I
spotted a non-descript building across the street.



The University of Nevada Nelson Building houses the Orvis School of
Nursing Clinic, the Early Head Start program, the Department of
Psychiatry of Behavorial Sciences clinic, Senior Outreach Services and
OLLI
(the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.) I'd hit the World Book Night
jackpot. Two wonderful women in the Senior Outreach Services directed me
(after I assured them I was not from a church distributing religious
materials -- the Gideons have made giving away free books more of a
challenge than I thought) to a shared lobby where seniors, the parents
of Early Head Start children, patients for the nursing clinic, and
patients for the psychiatric clinic could grab a copy of the book for
browsing and reading. They then directed me upstairs to the Lifelong
Learning Institute. They were just closing for the day, but I happened
to run into the institute's librarian who was familiar with Tim O'Brien
and thrilled to accept three copies on behalf of the seniors who use the
space to continue learning.


I then made my way across town to the beautifully maintained veteran's
guest house where military veterans and their families can stay while
they await treatments and surgical procedures at the VA hospital across
the street. Cathy, the house manager, was grateful for the O'Brien books
and promised to get them into the hands of appreciative readers
tonight. Again, the free books tend to throw people for a loop and I had
to assure Cathy that I did not need any written receipt to prove I'd
delivered the books safely.



All in all, it was a wonderful experience. Not only did I feel fortunate
to be sharing the gift of reading, but I've learned so much more about a
wealth of services in my home town for people of all ages and all walks
of life. Thanks World Book Night for allowing me to be a part of this
great experience.



If you would like to be a book giver in 2013, head to the
World Book Night website for information on volunteering.