The Leader

Our mission is to put unwanted books into the hands of those who want them.

My name is Russell Wattenberg and I've been giving away books in the
Baltimore area since the year 1999. I take books that I find, or that people              
give me and I give them to people who need or want them. I hate seeing
good books that people can use in boxes in people's basements or collecting
dust on shelves; especially when there are people who don't have the money
to buy a new book or ready access to used books.

 

There are so many schools in Baltimore without libraries. There are communities without books and
other communities where books are being taken to the dump. What I try to do is take the books from
people who don't want them and give them to people who do want them. There is some selfishness
involved, because I figure that if everyone reads a lot there'll be more people to have intelligent
conversations with. What's more, if someone reads a book that I haven't read yet, they can tell me
about it and I can learn whether or not I'm interested.

It all started when I was managing Dougherty's Pub, there was a group of schoolteachers who
came to the bar for happy hour on Fridays. One Friday I had picked up a load of books earlier
and still had them in my van. I gave the keys to the teachers at happy hour and told them to
"Open it up, take whatever books you need for your classes or for yourselves." To my amazement,
they were amazed. Soon, people were bringing me books, for my "book thing..." or whatever. Hence,
The Book Thing of Baltimore, Inc.