"I want to get books to kids," said Julie Wade, the founder of a non-profit bookmobile called Snake, Rabbit, and Snail, and a bookseller at Downtown Books and News and Malaprop's Bookstore & Cafe in Asheville, N.C. Through Snake, Rabbit, and Snail, Wade hosts free educational lectures for children, sells used children's books and installs small, free lending libraries around the Asheville area.
"New books can be expensive and I wanted to offer parents an alternative," continued Wade. "And I wanted to have the free lectures for them, because as a mom it's always nice to find things that are inexpensive or free, and fun, to do."
Wade originally had the idea for Snake, Rabbit, and Snail in the winter of 2009. Her initial plan, in fact, was to open a used children's bookstore in Asheville. But, after doing some research and taking some classes about opening bookstores, she realized that having a bricks-and-mortar storefront wouldn't be feasible. After reading Audrey Niffenegger's graphic novel The Night Bookmobile, though, she was inspired.
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| Julie Wade and her Snake, Rabbit, and Snail bookmobile. | |
"I saw that and thought, oh my God, a bookmobile, that's perfect," recalled Wade.
She began raising funds and planning for the bookmobile, and by April 2014, it was up and running. At first, Snake, Rabbit, and Snail was a sole proprietorship business. Wade began organizing free, educational lectures for children in August 2014, and by that time she had also started installing free, rotating libraries at places around Asheville, including a youth shelter, a preschool and a charity center waiting room. Given the cost of running the lectures, installing the libraries and donating so many books, Wade knew she wasn't selling enough used books for Snake, Rabbit, and Snail to be self-sufficient. "As a non-profit, I can at least get grants to cover some expenses and do more with the bookmobile," explained Wade.
Wade hosts a lecture about once per month. Though educational, the lectures are also meant to be entertaining, and past topics have included talks about bats, tornadoes, astronomy and birdwatching. At a recent event, on April 26, wildlife educator Steve Longenecker visited to teach children about snakes. He brought several live specimens with him, Wade recounted, and kids in the audience were able to handle some of the snakes. More than 50 people were in the audience, making it Snake, Rabbit, and Snail's best attended event yet.
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Kids meeting Steve Longenecker and his snakes. |
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"Basically, honestly, they're things that I think are cool, that I want to learn about," said Wade, laughing, when asked how she picked topics for the event series. "It wasn't purely selfless."
Wade is planning lectures for later in the spring and this summer. Future lecture topics will include bike repair (followed by a guided bike ride along Asheville's greenways), the science of sound, acting, cave exploration and nocturnal animals. Also this summer, an Asheville ice cream parlor called Ultimate Ice Cream will have a special Snake, Rabbit and Snail flavor for the month of July.
"Each month they pick a different non-profit and create a flavor, and then all the money from the flavor of the month goes that non-profit," said Wade. The specifics of the Snake, Rabbit and Snail flavor haven't been decided yet, she added. The ice cream is still in the brainstorming stages.
At the moment, Wade doesn't have any broad plans for the bookmobile beyond continuing to plan lectures, sell books and create free libraries. "I'm doing what I can with the time I have right now," said Wade. "It seems like what I'm doing is small but maybe it will slowly build up."
And currently, Wade operates the bookmobile entirely on her own. "I'm trying to talk to more friends about helping me out," she said. "With the scope of this thing, it has so much potential." --Alex Mutter