It's like Johnny Appleseed, only with books

and probably a lot less chance of something growing, at least here. I participated today in World Book Night, giving out books to those who aren’t yet readers with the hopes of cultivating a new love of reading. It was the very first time it’s been done in America and I was proud to be part of it. It was a very big learning experience, a humbling one and one that left me more sad than accomplished, I’m sorry to say.



A little background: I live in the beginning of the Appalachian hills but the Appalachian culture, which sometimes shies away from education, in all brutal honesty, is strong here. When I first came to interview at the college where I teach, one of the first things I was asked was ‘can you teach illiterates?’ I had no idea. I was new to teaching. I was new to the idea that people didn’t want to learn. I was apparently oblivious to it in undergrad and in high school, I was separated out from those students. I teach in a college where a third of the population is in a remedial reading class, reading at a middle school level.

So I signed up for World Book Night because it is such a wonderful idea. I thought I’d easily get libraries and schools behind me. I was wrong. I was really wrong. No one was interested in hosting the venue or helping me out. I was stunned and a little confused and a smidgen hurt. Then my own life exploded for a while and by the time I got everything under control, I realized I was nearly out of time to do something. I did finally find two venues but they were two I hadn’t really wanted to do and were definitely not the ones I put on my expected venue list when I signed up: the adult education center and my own college’s remedial reading program.

I wanted to be divorced from the college for this. I had hoped to reach younger and older could-be readers. I accepted this was not to be so I did the adult education center first. They warned me ahead of time that it was pointless. Literally, they said that. They’ve given out books before and no one cared. No one even wanted them. I remained hopeful. In four hours, only three people even consented to talk to me. I packed up the rest and went to the college.



No one wanted them there either but at least the promise of extra credit in class made them at least take it. I hope the heck they didn’t just throw them in the garbage can once they were out of sight (you know, like they do my notes the day of the test). I hope some of them at least try to read it and enjoy it. I had a little slogan for my giveaway, open a book, open the world. That is how I see books, how I’ve always seen them.

I’m going to go to bed tonight, thinking that at least a few people will read that book and I hope they like it enough to pick up others. I’ve learned from my mistakes with this program and next year, if I’m selected again, I know what I’ll do different. I’ll ask for help from my education professor buddies who have an in with local high school. Maybe we can work together to get more of an audience going for this, get more community interest. I might pick another book. I have to admit, I picked books from authors I liked but in retrospect, while I’m very glad Stephen King donated his books for this, The Stand is a curious choice. It’s huge. It’s daunting. Even I look at its over 1400 pages and think, ‘wow.’ Salem’s Lot or the The Shining might have been better choices, especially the latter with its movie tie-ins.

I’m not sure this counts as a success but it’s not a failure either. The books are out there. I hope that they at least influence someone. I tried. I really did. Who knows, maybe a love of reading will grow from at least one of the twenty seeds I handed out. Looking at the tweets about this, at least some people had a much better experience than I did.