Planting Seeds that Encourage Us to Read

I love to read. I think I always have. My memory doesn’t stretch back far enough to

recall a time when good books weren’t a part of my life. Our home was filled with them. My

parents were readers, so maybe I learned the art of reading by osmosis? If not, then certainly by

example. As a toddler, I became a precocious reader. By the time I was four, I was reading a fair

amount on my own.

So, imagine my delight to see book exchange boxes cropping up in various residential

areas around Boulder City in recent months. A book exchange box is a shared box or cabinet,

commonly posted by a homeowner in his or her front yard, where people exchange books for

free. These boxes are designed to promote reading and strengthen community ties by connecting

neighbors through a shared love of literature. People share their books by leaving them in the

box for anyone to take or borrow. Would-be readers aren’t required to leave a book in the box in

order to take one. But the honor system definitely encourages that.

Probably the most well-known example of book exchange boxes is the Little Free

Library, a non-profit organization that promotes a global network of registered book-sharing

boxes. Other names for the boxes include book swap boxes, community libraries, free library

boxes, and neighborhood book boxes.

In Boulder City, there’s been at least one book exchange box on the corner of Darlene

Way and Sandra Drive for years. Currently there are two there. More recently I’ve discovered

book exchange boxes on El Camino Way, Bermuda Dunes Drive, and other locations around

town.

Of course, book exchange boxes aren’t about to put our library out of business. Though

these boxes are perhaps even more common in towns where traditional libraries aren’t available,

we’re fortunate in Boulder City to have both. Like the exchange boxes, our own library is full of

books, open to the public, and mostly free. So, I hope you’re using your library card often, too.

One of the highest complements anyone can pay me is to share a good book. Whether

they loan me their most recent favorite, recommend it to me, or even just tell me how it’s

impacted their life, I’m always flattered that they want to share an important part of themselves

with me. Simply knowing that they’re readers who, like me, love to share ideas, insights,

thoughts, and feelings about our common human experiences instantly endears them to me. In

my book (pun intended), there’s no quicker way to kindle a friendship than to share a good book.

Alan Kerner and Teresa Giroux are two such friends in my life.

My wife, Leslie, is certainly another of my best book friends. When our kids were

young, it was a rare night when she didn’t gather them in our room to read at bedtime. And now

our children and their spouses perform similar nightly rituals with their own kids. There aren’t

many greater legacies that we could leave to our posterity than teaching them good reading

habits and the value of good books.

Over the past three years, Leslie and I have also organized a family book club with our

kids and their spouses. G-Ma Cheryl and Grandma Rose regularly join us as well. We read a

short classic every month or two, then gather by means of Google Chat or another

videoconferencing platform to discuss it. It’s been a truly amazing bonding experience. The

physical distance between us melts away for an evening, and our children teach us far more than

we ever teach them. Sharing with each other has drawn us closer than ever together as a family.

Reading good books opens our minds to new ideas, connects us with humankind, frees

our imagination to take flight, tickles our fancy with delightful turns of phrases, teaches us

critical thinking skills, allows us to go places in our hearts and minds that we could never go in

real life, helps us understand the perspectives of others who are different, puts into words the

things we’ve always wanted to say but didn’t know how, helps us gain wisdom and experience

vicariously without having to endure so many hardships of our own, and benefits us in so many

other ways. Experiencing any of those joys on our own can certainly be satisfying. But sharing

our reading experiences with others through book sharing boxes, libraries, book clubs, and other

exchanges is usually even more fulfilling.

So, what are you doing to share your favorite books with others, including those you love

but also perfect strangers? I hope we’ll all reap the innumerable benefits of sharing our love for

literature by finding more frequent and creative ways to do so.