Thankful Thursday: I Love Libraries edition

 

Long before online libraries brought the literary world to our fingertips, the Orange County bookmobile made deliveries to my neighborhood. Every two weeks or so, the librarian would roll up to the curb and wave all the children inside. We’d squeeze together in the narrow aisle for story hour, and then she’d let us check out as many books as our little arms could carry. For lonely girls like me, that bookmobile was Heaven on wheels.  

 

In gratitude for that Bookmobile—plus all the bricks-and-mortar libraries I’ve enjoyed over the years—I’m participating in author Jennifer Hubbard’s I LOVE LIBRARIES blog challenge.*

 

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS: For each individual who comments on this blog entry between now and 12:00 noon (PST) on 3/28, I will set aside $1.00—up to a total amount of $100.00—to help fill the library shelves at Girls Inc. of Orange County with books written by authors on my friends list. At a loss for words? Make a book recommendation. Or leave a note for participants in Girls Inc.—I’ll see that your messages are delivered.

 

Inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and bold sm
 


Note: If a single person leaves 50 comments, that still only counts once! But you can rack up the total help spread the word by linking to this post and/or sending your friends here to comment. Note also: If you’re not a member of LiveJournal, please sign in as Anonymous (your comments will be temporarily screened). Tell me how you came by this entry…enquiring minds and all that.

*For a complete list of participating bloggers (and to link to other sites where you can help libraries just by leaving blog comments), take a peek at writerjenn’s post.  

ETA: I’m overwhelmed by–and very grateful for–everyone’s generosity! Since I’ve reached my goal, please consider adding comments to Sara Lewis Holmes’s I LOVE LIBRARIES blog entry. She’s supplying books to Flying Horse Farms, a camp for kids with serious illnesses. As well, you can connect with other I LOVE LIBRARIES campaigns here.
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159 Comments

  1. This is fantastic, Melodye!
    My book recommendation comes in two parts: I’d recommend The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley to all girls. And women. It has a strong, brave heroine and is wonderfully written. And for boys The Aeronaut by Eoin Colfer. A real adventure story with a hint of The Count of Monte Cristo thrown in.
    Both books are of course great for both boys and girls!!

  2. Yay for libraries. And Yay for Girls, Inc. I read my first picture book, Aani and the Tree Huggers at one in Holyoke, MA, and then… talking with girls on the swim team inspired me to write Get Set! Swim! I’m so happy you’re helping with one of their libraries. When I visit schools, I talk about the courage of famous women, but also of ordinary girls like those in that book — who keep swimming, if that’s what they love, despite a pool that is often in need of repairs.
    xo

  3. This is such a nice idea! We didn’t have bookmobiles in our area when I was a kid, but I would have loved it.

    Book recommendations: Rules by Cynthia Lord, Elizabeti’s Doll by Stephanie Bodeen, and any of the Artemis Fowl books.

  6. Go. You.

    I was lucky. Not only was there a great library four blocks from my house, but when we went to camp in the summer there was a library THERE. (it was in a woman’s house. I always wondered what it would be like to LIVE in a library!)

  7. What an awesome cause: “strong, smart and bold.” I love it.

    And thanks again for inviting me to participate in this Blog-a-thon with Flying Horse Farms library. My post today is dedicated to you and your brilliance. 🙂

  11. sent me, and I’m glad she did – what a cool idea. And here’s a recommendation for a book with some strong, smart and bold girls in it: Dragon in Chains by Daniel Fox ().

  12. Here via a friend. I LOVE this idea. Books were my best, most reliable friends when I was a young (geeky and awkward) girl, and I am delighted that my daughter shares my passion for them. I will help spread the word about this!

  15. Good cause alert–books!

    User referenced to your post from Good cause alert–books! saying: […] And it won’t cost you a dime, all you have to do is go to ‘s journal, and comment on the post. […]

  29. YA book recs: Sabriel by Garth Nix, City of Bone by Cassandra Claire, Tithe by Holly Black, A Swiftly Tilting Planet etc. by Madeline L’Engle and the Earthsea books by Ursula Le Guin, Vintage by Steve Berman, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card…

  31. “Easy as 1-2-3”

    User referenced to your post from “Easy as 1-2-3” saying: […] “For each individual who comments on this blog entry between now and 12:00 noon (PST) on 3/28, I will set aside $1.00—up to a total amount of $100.00—to help fill the library shelves at Girls Inc. of Orange County** with books written by … […]

  33. Sartorias sent me too, and I’m gonna wave the Tamora Pierce flag around a little bit. First fantasy books I ever read, first books where girls did something more than sit around and shriek, still books I love reading, a dozen years later.

  34. What a great idea! I hope my little comment helps. It would be lovely if some company would add to your contribution.

  35. My early identification with libraries was so strong that I now work for one! We don’t have a bookmobile any more but lots of folks here still remember that “once upon a time.”

    some quick recs … also known as what I’ve tripped over in my daughter’s (age 14) room recently…
    The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
    The Thief and two sequels by Megan Whalen Turner
    Graceling by Kristin Cashore
    everything by Tamora Pierce

    KB

  39. What a great idea!

    A couple of book recs:

    Mary Renault’s Fire From Heaven and The King Must Die
    Nalo Hopkinton’s Brown Girl In the Ring (not the source of my LJ username, alas)

    *must run or I’d say more*

  47. Here via several people on my f-list! Thanks for doing this.
    I would recommend anything by Tamora Pierce, esp. the “Protector of the Small” series — very empowering.

  51. Wow! This is great. Thanks to sartorias who pointed me to this link.

    I love reading books and had been to oh so many libraries, not online ones yet, brick and stone kind. I have never seen a book mobile, however, it sounds wonderful to get lost in the world of words and characters.

  52. What are you WAITING for???

    User referenced to your post from What are you WAITING for??? saying: […] For each individual who comments on this blog entry between now and 12:00 noon (PST) on 3/28, I will set aside $1.00—up to a total amount of $100.00—to help fill the library shelves at Girls Inc. of Orange County** with books … […]

  53. Here via Sartorius. Fabulous idea!! I’m a library junkie. I have 13 library cards (only 3 of which I use with any regularity). I work at several library bookstores and donate to them vigorously.

    I recommend
    Terry Pratchett – Tiffany Aching series (and anything else!)
    Sarah Prineas – The Magic Thief
    Ysabeau Wilce – Flora Segunda series
    Megan Whalen Turner – Thief series

  54. I second the recommendation for the Thief series by Megan Whelan Turner, and also for almost anything by Diana Wynne Jones, but maybe start with _Howl’s Moving Castle_.

  56. Thank you for doing this! If it weren’t for books, I don’t know how I would have survived my childhood 🙂 . I’m here by way of rosefox, and I am so glad that LJ made it possible for me to help you do something so wonderful 🙂 .

  58. This is a wonderful idea! Thank you for supporting libraries from someone who almost *lived* at her local public as a child.

  64. Here’s my comment! Are you/they taking direct donations of books from authors for this project as well? I’d love to donate a copy of World Tree for those girl gamers…

  68. Hey–this is a wonderful idea. Do they take book donations of pristine hardcovers, too? I might have some books I could send them (instead of to PaperBack Book Swap) Heck I’ll even *donate* some money myself if I can.

    heading over to your friend’s website now

  69. Here’s a comment! I heart libraries, and so many of them are in serious trouble right now with losing state funding leading to laying off librarians leading to losing certification leading to losing ILL privledges and eligibility for federal funding.

    Edit: Oh, and I found you through .

  70. I love libraries, too! At the Galt Library (Sacramento County) I have a display from my series book collection in the library’s glass care — including rare Nancy Drew memorbilia like the lunchbook, diary and 1957 game. And I gave a talk at the library last week. Libraries rock!

  72. Hoorah for libraries! I’ve been going every couple of weeks the last few months and finding different treasures every time. It’s the only way I can keep my daughters (Especially the younger one!) in fresh books without breaking the bank, too.

    Are there any bookmobiles left?

  80. I’m here through Sartorias. What a great idea! I recommend anything by Sherwood Smith, Diana Wynne Jones, Shannon Hale, Moribito by Nahoko Uehashi,

    • Oops. Hit the wrong key. I’m not finished… Mercedes Lackey, and I’d start with Arrows of the Queen. Sharon Shinn, Lois McMaster Bujold, and yes I know they are generally listed as adult fantasy, but they portray strong women and I know a lot of teenagers love them too.

  83. Aw, this is great! I remember the bookmobile coming to our school when I was a kid. It was such an anticipated event, and something about all those books tucked away inside a van… well, it was kind of like magic!

    You’re a gem for doing something so generous…
    😀

  86. I’m visiting from ‘s journal.

    As an out-of-work librarian and wannabe author, I’ll support anything that promotes reading and libraries. When I was a kid, I read straight across the shelves at my elementary school library and the local branch of the Cumberland County Public Library, then started on the science fiction section.

  89. MOST EXCELLENT Idea

    not sure what to recommend.

    L’Engle? Diane Duane’s Cat Wizard Seires as well as ‘So you want to be a Wizard’ are excellent.

    my mother loved the library, she could drop me off there and come back three hours later and I’d have a new shopping bag full of books to read

  92. Terrific idea, and here is a comment to further it – as a writer of books with protagonists who are (hopefully) strong, smart and bold I can’t but applaud the initiative!

    Alma Alexander

  94. Here via as well. My elementary school librarian was the one who first put Robin McKinley’s The Hero and the Crown and the Blue Sword into my ten year old hands. I didn’t realize how much that would change my life forever.

    So, in honor of Mrs. Lobner, I think this is an awesome idea, and recommend the Tamora Pierce Song of the Lionness quartet, which I’m sure someone else has already recced. 🙂

    • Yes, absolutely! Please send me a PM or an email and I’ll help set that up. newport2newport AT gmail DOT com

      Other people have suggested the same thing, and I’m grateful to them and to you for that generous offer!!!

  98. I suppose I am too late since it seems you already have 100 comments, but I just wanted to say that is a great idea. I hope the girls will love all the books you can buy them!

  101. Here from a link at ‘s journal. I haven’t read all the comments, so these recommendations may well be redundant to ones you’ve already had, but I thought I would mention the three Firebirds short story anthologies edited by Sharyn November. They include all sorts of wonderful contemporary fantasy writers and generally feature strong female leads, so they seem like an excellent match for Girls Inc. libraries. Diana Wynne Jones is also a favorite of mine — any of her many books would be a good choice, but perhaps especially Fire and Hemlock. Also Sorcery and Cecilia, or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Stevermer and Wrede.

    Anyway, good for you for doing this. Supporting libraries, especially in California where the public ones have been raped over by public funding policies, is a fabulous thing to do.

  105. here via satorias

    Some powerful women show up in Sharon Shinn’s Mystic and Rider series (would be good for teenagers) and there’s always Sherwood Smith’s Crown Duel and A Posse of Princesse, of course ^^.

  107. O.R. Melling. She makes me wish that I had a daughter, so that I could give that daughter her books. Having grown up Irish-American and believing in fairies, it’s about the nicest take on that mythos that I’ve come across yet. Also, you are totally awesome for doing this.

  108. Congratulations and thanks for being so awesome! You’ve probably already hit 100 comments, but I just wanted to say what a great idea with was.

    Also, book recs:
    Coraline by Neil Gaiman
    The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle
    The Firebringer Trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce

  112. Yah for libraries! If you want a recommendation from your friends’ list, a good one for girls is A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT by Linda Urban. A non-list rec. that is just plain awesome is HOOT by Carl Hiaasen (middle-grade novel that’s funny and is about ecology).

  115. I, too, remember the Orange County bookmobile. It stopped at “the Plaza,” the shopping center at Brookhurst and Chapman in Garden Grove.

    Is that sufficient? Thanks for doing this!

  138. Libraries Rock!!

    I practically grew up in my local library, which was one street over from my house. I would have been there 24/7 if my parents had allowed it. I was a book nut as a child, and am still hooked on books.

    Libraries are an author’s best friend!!

  140. I’m late to the library party but wanted to comment here because I know how that bookmobile saved you when you were young. Thank you for doing this, Melodye.

  141. this is an awesome idea — congrats on creativity and thoughtfulness!! 🙂
    i suggest any biography of Harriet Tubman — she is my all-time Heroine.

  144. LIBRARIES ARE GREAT

    We visited the library every week as a child and I proudly presented my dogeared card to take out the maximum number allowed. Now, libraries provide lifeblood to my work and serenity in the chaos of frenetic lifestyles. Libraries on line make it easier to reach vast quantities of sources across the world.

  146. Anonymous

    Glad you reached your goal – hurrah!

    Thank you so much for participating!

    As for a book recommendation for the Girls Inc. library, I’d recommend copies of Ruth McNally Barshaw’s Ellie McDoodle books.

    All best,
    Debbie Diesen
    http://www.deborahdiesen.com

  148. Encouraging girls to be strong, smart, and bold – Right on, Girls Inc!

    I am, at all times, full of book recommendations. Want some classic books for strong young girls? ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND (and THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE) + ANNE OF GREEN GABLES (and the books which followed!)

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