While social networking sites offered at-the-scene updates during Monday's World Book Night, local media outlets began basking in the WBN afterglow yesterday.
In Frankfort, Ky., Kay Scott's Zeitoun WBN event at the King's Center, where she works as a volunteer, was a "New Orleans-themed party, complete with homemade jambalaya, the spike Lee documentary When the Levees Broke and 20 copies of Dave Eggers' novel," the State Journal reported.
"I knew it would be a book some people wouldn’t be familiar with and I could share it with them, and that's the whole point of World Book Night," Scott said. "Their whole goal is that people who love to read and love books will share that love with someone else. It's person-to-person.... It's people saying, 'Here, I want to give you something because it really meant a lot to me and I think it’ll mean a lot to you.' "
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KPBS in San Diego, Calif., reported that local author Judy Reeves gave away 20 copies of Tim O’Brien's The Things They Carried to several Vietnam vets at Veteran's Village. "People don't necessarily tell their story because not many would understand it," she said. "When you find someone else telling your story, it opens you and makes you feel like a bigger part of the world. The experience was wonderful. I just felt so great doing it."
Mary Lyons of Bluestocking Books, Hillcrest, called WBN "a celebration of the printed word when you share what you love by handing somebody a book. It's a lot harder to do that with a digital file."
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In Iowa, more than 100 people attended a WBN event outside the Clinton Public Library, and library director Amy Birtell told the Herald she "would like to start up book discussions based on the books dispersed."
"We had people waiting for the 6 p.m. time," she added. "The Hunger Games was definitely a hot one."
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Robert D. Farwell, executive director of Otis Library in Norwich, Conn., handed out 20 copies of The Hunger Games at St. Vincent de Paul Place, a soup kitchen and food pantry nearby. "You're never too old to be introduced to the joys of reading," he said. "I know we have a number of constituents who could benefit from having a book that they can get and keep, where they might not be able to afford to buy it."
The title choice was not ironic, Farwell said, noting that he relied on a recommendation from Otis's young adult librarian, who thought the novel "would be a fine selection since it's been so visible, what with the publicity surrounding the books and the film adaptation," the Day reported, adding: "Indeed, The Hunger Games books were happily received at St. Vincent de Paul Place."
Annie Philbrick, co-owner of Bank Square Books, Mystic, "recalled being impressed when she read about last year's World Book Night in the United Kingdom," the Day noted.
"I just thought it was the coolest thing, that everybody could join in together to share their love of reading," she said.
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Jill Miner, owner of Saturn Booksellers, Gaylord, Mich., and her husband, Dave, were back at the bookstore to replenish their supply after giving away the first 60 books when the Herald Times checked in with them.
"I'm a doctor, and we're hitting every spot at the hospital," said Dave. "We handed out books at the lab, emergency, med surge and McReynolds Hall.".
By the end of the night, Jill said, "Every box of books have been handed out. We will certainly be doing it again."
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The surf and reading were both up in Santa Cruz, Calif., where vice mayor Hilary Bryant paddled out on her surfboard with "20 copies of Octavia Butler's Kindred wrapped in plastic sandwich bags for the two surf school students out in yellow vests, who will soon have something better to do than mope around on waves slower than tree sap," SantaCruz.com reported.
"My husband was saying that is the most ridiculous idea he's ever heard," Bryant said. "That's the worst place to have a book. I actually have people to take the extras to. Have you heard of Operation Surf Santa Cruz? It’s a project where they have army veterans who have been injured, typically amputees, and they do a week-long surfing rehabilitation program. I'm going to go down to the meet and greet with the soldiers with my kids and we're going to give them to the wounded soldiers."
Out on the waves, Santa Cruz Surf School owner Dylan Greiner said, "I think it's great. I’m going to add it to my bookshelf."
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"It's not about the sale of a book. It's about the excitement of reading," Amanda Winchester, co-owner of Main Street Books, Lander, Wyoming, told the Fremont Ranger, which reported that in March, "Winchester tried to get people interested in the idea, but she said there was a lack of support.... But slowly people in Lander and Riverton jumped on board with the idea of giving out free copies of a book at a specific location."
By the time she hosted a reception for book-givers earlier this month, things had changed dramatically. "We set out all the books, and we kind of talked to each other. That part was fun to hear the excitement about why they chose where they were going," Winchester said. "They were all passionate about the book that they chose."