I used this phrase twice today, once at the R.O.C.K. Mat-Su Meeting and then in talking with Skye, the Alaska Literacy Program math instructor. I was thinking as I spoke, about what happens when you drop a pebble in smooth water. There’s a ripple effect. The ripples spread outward, taking the form of concentric rings. The analogy is this: good generates good. Bad also generates bad, but we’re not going there in this dispatch.

The good, an example. Amy Buschatz of the Mat-Su Sentinel gave the Bright Lights Book Project 16 newspaper boxes that she got from the Frontiersman Newspaper when it folded and she purchased the newspaper.

Pete put shelves in the newspaper boxes last spring. We got them into the hands of local artists who painted them. We put them in various places on the Alaska State Fair fairgrounds. I distributed books twice a day, often taking volunteers with me.
Lydia Lester, a BLBP volunteer, painted one of these boxes. She finished it up a few days ago and brought it to the hotel.

Last Sunday, very late, Pete and I stopped at Bugge Park and distributed books. There we met a woman who said that she ran the Hubba Hubba Subs café in Big Lake. We talked further with her about the project, and she said that she would like having a story time there, and as well books.

Skye lives in Big Lake and when I told him this story said that he’d take a newspaper box out there. Today he loaded what I call the bird box into his Ford Fiesta along with two boxes of books. I surmised that appreciative readers will take the books and be filled with joy. This then is the ripple effect. This started with us acquiring the boxes and led to one ending up in a Big Lake café.

The ripple effect is ongoing, much like drops of rain on the surface of calm water.

Today I went to a R.O.C.K. Mat-Su meeting and talked about the literacy-related aspects of the BLBP. After I spoke, there was considerable affirmation for what it is that the BLBP has done and continues to do.

I felt good for the rest of the day. I feel good right now as I’m writing this. In the words of our neighbor, Judy Donegan, “who knew?” The major life lesson here for me is that good begets good. The ripple effect is the begets part.

Those listening to today’s presentation (as many are) focused on the free books aspect of my presentation. It’s hard to get people to see that we are doing literacy-related work. Getting books into the hands of appreciative readers was a huge first step. Now we must (and will) do more direct literacy related activities. Maybe we have to keep dropping pebbles into the water, in order to keep the ripples moving out.

Next: 267. 10/7/26: More on the Ripple Effect