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Freedom Action of the Week
Email List Archive
Free-Market.Net's F r e e d o m A c t i o n o f t h e W e e k
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Edited by Mary Lou Seymour. To subscribe or unsubscribe to this
and other lists, click to: http://www.free-market.net/features/lists/
September 25, 2002
Release a "freedom book" into the wild
Among the things most freedom lovers have in common is a vast
appetite for reading and a love of books. Go into one of our homes
(or offices) and you're likely to be unable to see the furniture for the
books. No "Martha Stewart" decorating for us -- the best decor
consists of stacks of books, shelves of books, boxes of books.
There's no such thing as "too many books," right? Some of us even
collect several copies of our favorites so that we can always have a
copy handy in our car, office, purse or backpack.
Today I'm going to suggest something we book lovers may
consider quite radical. I'm going to suggest that we giving away
books! That's right, give away. Not sell. Not loan to a friend. Not
trade in for another book. I'm suggesting that we just outright give
away a book, to an unknown recipient. And not just ANY book, but
a book that you love. One that has inspired you. One that you
treasure. One that you can't live without.
Before you decide I've completely lost what few marbles I have
remaining, let me introduce you to BookCrossing, an online book-
sharing community of bibliophiles (a ten dollar word for book lovers)
who are doing exactly this ... giving away books. Or, as they call it,
"freeing books" by leaving them out "in the wild" for others to pick
up, read, enjoy and hopefully pass on to others. They want, in
effect, to make the world into "one big library."
When you join BookCrossing, you'll see that the idea is very
simple. You register your book and get an ID number, download a
label to paste in your book with the ID to identify it as part of the
project, leave your book in some locale where it is likely to be
picked up and read and, finally, register your book as a "release"
(saying where it was released etc.). That's all there is to it. When
your book is picked up, the hope is the recipient will follow the
instructions on the label, go to the BookCrossing site, and log it in
as a "capture." That way, you'll be notified by email that your book
has found a new home ... and notified again if the new "owner" then
releases it and someone else finds it, etc.
If the idea of giving up some of your books seems too scary to start
out with, you can also participate by looking at the list of "released
books" in your area, "go hunting" for the books others have
already released, find the book, log on to BookCrossing and make
a "journal entry" to let people know that you found the book ... and
then release it again. (Looking at the lists of "released" books by
clicking on the "go hunting" button will also give you some ideas of
where good spots to release books are.)
Unfortunately, a quick look at the BookCrossing "release list"
shows that very few freedom lovers are joining in this activity (or, if
they are, they aren't able to bear parting with some of their favorite
"freedom books").
For this week's action, I'm suggesting that we all join
BookCrossing and add some freedom-oriented books to the "wild
population." Take a look at the BookCrossing site for more info on
how it works and for "testimonials" from members. Or read the
Book Magazine feature article on the project.
If, like me, you're reluctant to part with any of your book friends, I
suggest buying a replacement copy for yourself first, then releasing
the book. Or visit your local used book store and score some
freedom lovers' "old favorites" at a minimal cost to start with.
This is one of those activities that you can do anytime, anywhere
... and get a quick "rush" when you release a book. Excellent
therapy for those days when the death march of our country into a
socialist police state seems inevitable, and you feel like there is
nothing "little old you" can do to stop it.
Til next week!
For freedom
Mary Lou
Links
o BookCrossing
http://www.free-market.net/rd/280703623.html
o An online program puts stray books up for adoption
http://www.free-market.net/rd/282583741.html
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Director of Partner Services celestial an article as FREEDOM
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tlknapp@free-market.net -- Tom Paine
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