Read All About It!

Drama, readers. Mass amputation. Wholesale reductions, forced combinations, and ruthless excisions aplenty.

I am talking, of course, about the hyphen.

In the newest edition of the venerable Oxford English Dictionary, editors have cut the hyphens from over 16,000 words; or, as Reuters put it, “Thousands of hyphens perish as English marches on.” Chick-pea, bumble-bee, and cry-baby are now proudly hyphenless. And fig-leaf, ice-cream, and test-tube have been split asunder, separated for lexicogical eternity by a space.

A few years ago I would have read of this mass reconstruction with amusement. But since starting Open Books a year ago and discovering that our domain of choice, openbooks.org, was owned by a link spammer and that we would have to take open-books.org instead, we have become very sensitive on the issue.We have tried to buy openbooks.org. We went through two different domain companies to determine its fair market value, and then we offered a multiple of that. We never even got an answer. In the meantime, while the owner (presumably) takes in money from a contentless link page, we check, double-check, and triple-check everything that goes out to make sure the critical hyphen is included, and cry with frustration every time we see friends, family, media, volunteers, and stories out there without it. We are Open-Books-with-a-hyphen-dot-org, and no amount of bold slashing or spacing from the OED editors will change the situation.

Ah well.

As I fine tune the art of multitasking, as only a new mother can…I found myself scanning quickly through an odd copy of Good Housekeeping during my morning commute. I am not even sure that I am a legal GH subscriber but it just keeps coming so I read it!

To my delight there was an amazing article about a Donkey Mobile Library!

This is the stuff folks….really great stuff.

The Donkey Mobile Libraries were developed to provide library extension and outreach services to remote communities in the Nkayi District in north-western Zimbabwe. It is estimated that the literacy rate in this district is around 86% and this is largely attributed to the established and emerging library services.

The mobile units are Donkey Drawn Electro-Communication Library Carts. Besides functioning as a mobile library with a collection of books and other printed works, it works as a centre for electric and electronic communication: radio, telephone, fax, e-mail, Internet. SO COOL!

Each cart is provided with a solar unit installed on the roof; a battery charged by this solar energy supplies the electric power. Audio-visual apparatus is installed in a cabinet at the back of the cart and electronic data equipment and storage facilities for battery, inverter, distilled water (for tte batteries), books, music disks and records, video cassettes, etc. are installed on cabinets at both sides of the cart. The unit can also be provided with an aerial or a satellite dish.

Four of these donkey mobile libraries are operating in Nkayi District. Their services have proved a strong networking exercise since they afford the participating static libraries a unique experience of offering library and information services to remote communities or areas that are inaccessible due to poor road infrastructure.

Killer ideas….bringing literacy, and reading TO THE PEOPLE by way of ANIMALS! Love it.

Hi, everyone! Time flies when you’re having fun! Or in my case, time flies when your new job comes complete with awesome co-workers, an office full of colorful furniture to assemble, and most importantly, a mission that makes you spring out of bed each morning with hope, purpose, and a big nerdy smile!

Anyway, I’d like to take a moment to officially introduce myself to the wonderful crew of Open Books volunteers and friends. My name is Erin Walter and I am the new literacy director for Open Books. And as you probably know, our mission is to increase literacy and spread the love of books in greater Chicagoland. I am beyond thrilled to be part of that mission.

In the week since I started this job, the Open Books team has:

• moved into new downtown digs (near the Chicago brown line stop)

• welcomed a stellar volunteer group from the Junior League

• braved our first TV news interview (with a crew from FOX)

• traveled into the bowels of downtown Chicago, via the Lower Wacker Drive loading docks (very Adventures in Babysitting!), for a generous book-drive donation from a law firm

• turned a gazillion plywood panels and tiny screws into inviting office furniture, without so much as a word of instruction from IKEA and occasionally with so much time and tedium as to earn the item in question a jaunty nickname (for instance, the wheeled cart beneath my window, which shall henceforth be known as “The Item”)

• and, of course, giddily waded through boxes of beautiful, beckoning books! I can tell the hardest part of this job is going to be not reading all day.

Almost every wall at Open Books HQ is a different color, and last week we painted quotes from great authors for inspiration. There are giant glass vases full of Hershey kisses, peppermints, and other goodies on our counter. It looks like we’ve created a hybrid organization — part bookstore-to-be, part crayon factory, part candy shop. (Don’t you want to come visit? Well stay tuned, we’re bursting with ideas for upcoming events here.)

The pink wall in my office says (in yellow paint, of course): To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark. ~ Hugo. I believe that with my heart and soul. If you’re curious, here are four of my favorite books off the top of my head: Youth in Revolt by C.D. Payne, Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, and This Is My Friend by Mercer Mayer.

As you can read in the About section of open-books.org, my background is in writing, teaching, and music (some of you will know me by my rock-n-roll alias, Erin Black). I was an Open Books volunteer first, and I look forward to working with all of you to create unique literacy programs and events for everyone from new readers to book freaks (like the ladies in this office). If you have ideas, shoot me an e-mail or leave a comment. Your input is always welcome!

Thank you for your support of Open Books, literacy programs, and nonprofit organizations in the greater Chicago community! See you back here on the blog soon.

LOVE & LITERATURE,

Erin

…is up!

Hooray.