Hello Book Thing friends,

Thank you to everyone who was able to come to our July book giveaway! Patrons adopted 9,204 books and 59 “non-books.” We also accepted donations of books, magazines, and mixed media totaling more than 12,500 items. It was great to welcome people back inside the building to browse our stacks for the second time since the start of the pandemic.

Upcoming events

We will continue our book giveaways on the second full weekend of the month for the rest of the year, pandemic permitting. As always, our events alternate between Saturday and Sunday.

We particularly invite teachers to come collect books to restock their classrooms for back-to-school at our August opening!

  • Sat Aug 14 from 9a-5p – no book donations, details below.
  • Sun Sept 12 – details TBD
  • Sat Oct 9  – details TBD
  • Sun Nov 14 – details TBD
  • Sat Dec 11 – details TBD

We are still dealing with a large backlog of books, so we don’t have any more book donation days scheduled at this time. However, if you have several boxes of children’s books that you wish to donate, please fill out the Contact form on our website.

Indoor book giveaway: Saturday, Aug 14, 9am-5pm

We will allow patrons into the building to select their own books on Aug 14th, using a limited-entry format. We’re relaxing the headcount restriction and eliminating the timed format for this month in the hopes of serving more patrons. All lines will form outdoors. Dress for the weather, bring an umbrella if it’s rainy, etc. Here’s what you need to know:

  • Masks are required, even if you’re vaccinated.
  • 65 patrons will be permitted in the building at any given time. We will use a “one in, one out” method to respect this limit.
  • We won’t ask everyone to leave after 50 min the way we did in June/July, but if the entrance line isn’t moving, we reserve the right to empty the building at 11am, 1pm and/or 3pm to give new patrons a chance to enter.  (Yes, you can get back in line.)
  • Upon exiting, patrons will form an outdoor line to count their books and sign out. Yes, even if it’s raining.
  • The first entrance will be at 9am. Last entrance at 4:45pm so that all patrons have exited the building and signed out by 5pm.
  • Patrons are responsible for their own social distancing inside the building.
  • A parent may be accompanied by one (and only one) child, and every child must be accompanied by one adult. We worry that many kids can’t get vaccinated yet.
  • Patrons will enter through the red room door and exit through the blue room door.
  • The restroom will be available, but you will not be permitted to enter the building to use it except when it is your turn to be inside browsing for books. Please plan accordingly.
  • Spare boxes will be available to hold your books.

If you are interested in volunteering on Aug 14th, you may fill out the Contact form.  We anticipate staffing this book giveaway with experienced volunteers, but we will get in touch if we need extra hands.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we continue to be open only once a month for now. We know it’s been a while since we shared an organizational update. Stay tuned, we’ll have one out soon!