Tonight, your house is full of books. There are the books that you’ve taken on and made your own. And there are those that are here temporarily, which is until you can get them to the Meeting House. This should be sometime tomorrow. It is almost like a Dr. Suess book, one entitled “Books, Books, Everywhere.” The first line of the book reads: “Books, Books Everywhere, they’re in your house, they’re in your care.”

Upstairs, right now, textbooks. Going to see about sending them overseas. Downstairs, sorted children and young adult books. Also, Christmas books.

Books, books, and more books

Today you went to VCRS and sorted books alongside your friend Bill S. It was like the good old days, but now a little easier. You reminded him of last year around the holidays, you were taking books out of the Gaylords and sorting them out on the floor. Now, a year later, you are working in the area that was designated for storage before distribution. The books that were here were shredded and pulped.

What most amazes you is that the books just seem to keep coming. And most are worth saving. As you and Bill were working, another pallet load from a local thrift store came in. You and Bill, you made quick work of the sorting. You left having sorted three pallets and several bags of books.

There’s now also a bookstore, it consists of two rooms. You haven’t spent any time in there because your focus has been on sorting. You are relieved to know that these books are safe and most likely won’t be shredded. Upstairs, there are books on the bookshelf that Pete got from a staff member and then rebuilt.

You sorted at the wooden table that Bill made. It was fun spending time with him, talking about nothing of any great consequence. And, amazingly, it was relatively quiet. It’s difficult to think, much less get any work done, when the crew is baling tin cans. Bill took the best of the books of faith and other books for the Sutton Post Office revolving book rack. This week, you are going to approach area businesses to see if there is any interest in their taking on a rack.

You said to Bill when he (happily) loaded the two pallets of books that you set aside that you felt overwhelmed in thinking about what’s now ahead of you, that is the dispersal of over 30 boxes of books. The truth be known, you really aren’t feeling all that overwhelmed. Last night you made a list of contacts, and on Monday you’ll resume doing outreach work. Your motto is now “one phone call at a time.” If you had your druthers you would exclusively sort. But although you are an introvert, you’re good at figuring out who the target audience for these books will be.

Right now, storage space at the Meeting House is limited. One phone call at a time. This is your new mantra.

Next: 3. 1/3/21: Raudi’s State of the Barn Address Part II