Read All About It!

Last night’s volunteer social and info session has me filled with so much rah-rah volunteer spirit, that I think it’s time for another volunteer all-star. I’d like to thank our friends at nearby Grace Chicago Church for referring volunteers to Open Books, including weekly administrative dynamo Emily Kiang. It’s no secret that I have an irrational fear of filing (which leads to terrible piling), and Emily has become my not-so-secret weapon in the fight for organization. Thank you so much, Emily!

Name: Emily Kiang
Neighborhood: Gold Coast
Profession: Adult education
Open Books programs: Office administration and creative writing field trips

The 10 Questions We Always Ask!

1. How would you spend your last 24 hours if you knew the world would end in the morning?
I would drop everything, drive to Black River Falls, Wisconsin, and find a person who will take me 4 wheeling. Then, I would meet my family at the Super 8 Motel and we will go eat at a local restaurant and go gambling at the local casino.

2. What was your dream job when you were 5?
Police Officer

3. If you could have dinner with 3 people (real or fictional), who would you invite and what would you eat?
Randy Pausch (Carnegie Mellon Professor and author of “The Last Lecture”), Stephen Covey (author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People), and Condaleeza Rice

4. What was your favorite childhood toy or game?
Playing volleyball with an inflatable beach ball. You can spike and nobody will get hurt.

5. If you had one superpower, what would it be?
I would like to be able to fly.

6. What secret obsession do you have that no one knew about before this interview?
When I decorate my house and set things up, I like to make sure that everything is symmetrical. [Editor's note: Do you see how lucky Open Books is to have Emily's help around the office?! - Erin]

7. What makes you laugh uncontrollably?
The character “Van Montgomery” played by actor Steven Howie from the sitcom “Reba”
“Sophia Petrillo” – the character who was “Dorothy Zborniak’s” mother in “The Golden Girls”

8. What book are you reading right now?
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (Yes, there is quite a bit of Alex P. Keaton in me.)

9. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
As of yesterday, Goat Cheese and Caramel Gelato from UnCommon Ground in Lakeview.

10. What is playing on your iPod/record player these days?
Jazz, 80’s music, classic rock

My recent intern experience passing out books to children outside the Story Bus was a real shocker.

The Bus was parked at Chicago’s Gwendolyn Brooks Park, site of National Night Out community activities.

I gave one little boy (I’m guessing around five years old) one of the Open Books bookmarks to go with his brand new book.

“What’s this for?” he said. 

“It’s a bookmark,” I replied. 

 No sign of recognition. 

“What do you do with it?” he continued. 

I explained that if he didn’t finish the book but wanted to do something else for a while, this piece of paper would show him where he had stopped.

“Oh… Okay!”

It was after this that I learned in the course of drafting a grant narrative that 61% of low-income families have no children’s books in the home.  Can you imagine a childhood without books?  No wonder more than half of Chicago Public School students are reading below grade level. 

The need is so great, it seems overwhelming, but all that anyone or any organization can do is work on the problem one child at a time.   Your time and resources are so crucial, and you know Open Books is the organization to put them to the best use.

As my all-too-brief internship draws to a close (I’m just about to get semi-comfortable working with a Mac), I am determined to stay involved with this worthy organization, in honor of all those people, related and non-related, who read to me before I could for myself.

If any of our blog readers have been in my office, you will know that I am surrounded by stacks and stacks of books. And if that is not enough to curb my book hoarding appetite, I can merely step out of my office into the main office and be surrounded by bookshelves upon bookshelves of books. And IF just IF that is still not enough variety there are always the full shelves at home. I have known for quite some time that there may really not be any need for me to actually BUY or PURCHASE a book ever again!

But the moment came in the last couple of weeks when I received my mom’s selection for our family book club and it was a title that I, (gasp) did not have!

So! I naturally went looking for it from our amazing partners, Better World Books!

I had no doubts, but I am happy to report that I had a great shopping experience. They had the book I needed, it was a great price, shipping was FREE and I felt good knowing that a portion of the money I spent went to help support literacy initiatives locally and globally! So glad we are working with them!

Here is me and my happy Better World Books package!

Stay tuned for news on The Great American Bookdrive – An exciting event partnership with Open Books and Better World Books – coming to Chicago in October.

Becky Hensley and the woman’s group from Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration in Palos Park smashed the record for book drives this week.  The group originally thought they would be delivering close to 20 boxes.  When Becky arrived at our warehouse the grand total was over 80 boxes that made up 4 pallet loads of books!

Open Books just wanted to say a gigantic thank you for all  the hard work and the loads of the amazing books.

What can I say about super volunteer Colin Harris? We got along so well at the first Chicago Reader Book Swap that I invited him to my writing group and my silly game nights (which, if you like Twister and Guitar Hero, may be for you, too). Colin met the Open Books gang at 4 a.m. on a Sunday for Bike the Drive and stayed up late with us on a Wednesday after the first Chicago Reader Book Swap. He even wore his Open Books shirt to work at Printers Row (when he was on the clock for his job). Colin rocks! If you’re reading this, hopefully you’ll meet him soon at an Open Books event.

Name: Colin Harris
Neighborhood: Lakeview
Profession: Bookseller
Open Books Events: Chicago Reader Book Swap, Bike the Drive, Pitchfork Music Festival, Rock For Reading Sort-a-Thon [Editor's note: Wow! It's mind-boggling to look at the photo below and see how roomy the Open Books warehouse was just a few months ago. That side with all the backpacks -- and every side -- is piled high and wide with boxes of donated books now. Yay, donors! And now, back to saying yay for Colin! - Erin]

10 Questions We Always Ask:

1. How would you spend your last 24 hours if you knew the world would end in the morning?
Flying to my outpost on Mars – or if that’s cheating, I’d eat a bacon cheeseburger and take a loooong nap.

2. What was your dream job when you were five?
To be a Robot. With lots of guns. It hasn’t changed.

3. If you could have dinner with 3 people, (real or fictional) who would you invite and what would you eat?
Steven Segal, Charles Bronson and Wesley Snipes – always bet on black. We’d have…..Make-Your-Own Fajitas? These are hard.

4. What was your favorite childhood toy or game?
Either the Big Wheel or the Sit-N-Spin. [Editor's note: Dude! We must add those two items to game night!]

5. If you had one superpower, what would it be?
To stop time? Fly? Turn invisible? These are hard.

6. What secret obsession do you have that noone knew about before this interview?
Direct-to-video action movies and Iron Chef America.

7. What makes you laugh uncontrollably?
Those two blobs from the Herculoids.

8. What book are you reading right now?
I’m reading How Fiction Works by James Wood. He’s a real pill, but he knows what he’s talking about.

9. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Mint Chocolate Chip

10. What is playing on your iPod/record player these days?
Planet of the Wolves by Guitar Wolf