“if you read just 15 minutes a day, in a year you will have read about one million words. think about the impact that has on your child, their ability to understand text and develop concepts about the world around them.”
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in honor of national library week
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credits: painting by gary-nikolai angleov, bookstock.mi.org
i hear the grandies’ voices
one reads words out loud
while the other
writes ‘created words’
and mentions,
“maybe i should take a writing class.”
—
handwriting is so cool
because it is like
the written equivalent of someone’s voice.
-word porn
what an elementary teacher
after-school book meeting looks like
all full of colors, sparkling water, and clever words.
—
“books are uniquely portable magic.”
– stephen king
ever the vigilant sentinel
glenn frey the cat not the rocker
mans his post
to guard my latest pile of books
my gargoyle is at the ready
and clearly on high alert
no one dare mess with him.
—
“you cannot give up. we are gargoyle, and we are strong.”
― faith gibson
Turkish Garbage Collectors Open Library Full of Discarded Books
Turkish garbage collectors in the country’s capital city of Ankara have opened a public library that is full of books that were originally destined to be put into landfill. The workers began collecting discarded books and opened the new library in the Çankaya district of Ankara. News of the library has spread and now people have begun donating books directly to the library, rather than throwing them away.
As CNN reports, the library was originally created for the use of the employees friends and family but, as it grew in size, the library was officially opened to the public in September of last year. “We started to discuss the idea of creating a library from these books. And when everyone supported it, this project happened,” said Çankaya Mayor Alper Tasdelen, whose local government spearheaded the opening of the library.
The library now has over 6,000 fiction and non-fiction books and includes a children’s section, an area dedicated to scientific research books, and a number of English and French language books for those who are bilingual. The library building itself used to be a brick factory and is located at the sanitation department HQ. The building featured long corridors and an aged brick facade and transformed perfectly into a library.
Books can be withdrawn for two weeks at a time, with an extension available if required. The library’s collection has now become so vast that it loans many of the books to schools, educational programs, and even prisons.“Village schoolteachers from all over Turkey are requesting books,” Tasdelen said. The library has also created new job opportunities as it requires full time staff to run and support it.
The library has proven to be a huge hit with the community. Children of the employees often enjoy reading there and local school children visit to study. Local cyclists who pedal through the nearby valley often take a break there and enjoy the lounge area and chess boards. “Before, I wished that I had a library in my house. Now we have a library here,” Serhat Baytemur, a 32-year-old garbage collector, told state media.
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“ours is a culture and a time immensely rich in trash as it is in treasures.”
― ray bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing
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credits: kerrytown bookfest, forreadingaddicts.co.uk,cnn
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image credit: goodreads.com
spent a few beautiful afternoon hours
at the kerrytown bookfest
in the ann arbor farmers market
where i usually find the flowers and fruit
on this day
i found all kinds of wonders
new and used books
interesting genres
loved the gunslingers section
illustrators proud of their work
fellow book loving shoppers
passionate authors of all kinds
and
so many, many words
—
“reading is an exercise in empathy;
an exercise in walking in someone else’s shoes for a while.”
-malorie blackman
I didn't have my glasses on.... 
