Greetings and happy early spring to you. We are grateful for your ongoing support of Street Books, for the donations of books and survival gear, and for the stellar volunteers who help our operations. Read on to meet Margaret, learn about our Spring Campaign & learn more about how to support us.
Margaret is our Super Volunteer who joins the shift every Wednesday. She has built a relationship with a local consignment shop where she receives boots, coats and other cold weather gear to distribute at the library shifts. She always keeps an eye out for a good deal on tarps, reading glasses and other supplies people might need. When she visited the Greyhound shift and saw that people often asked for food, she began bringing snacks as well. Our ace librarian Yimei (pictured at right with Margaret) sat down to learn more about why Margaret is so super. Read their interview below:
Yimei: Margaret, who are you?
Margaret: I have no idea. My name is Margaret Brown. I’m a human being. I’m a retired hospice nurse. Mother of two bio kids and two step-kids. All grown now and they still speak to me, which I consider a real accomplishment. I’m a Quaker, which has really defined my life, and I like having fun. My definition of fun might be very different from other people’s.
Yimei: What do you love about Street Books?
Margaret: How much time do you have? I love everything about it. I don’t even know how I ended up coming out with Diana, Yimei and Josh… and I found that was also way out of my comfort zone… and I survived… so I tried it again! And it’s just stuck. I love that it’s not just books, but as with any self-respecting library, Street Books provides social and physical needs as well, such as ponchos and narcan, and it’s all without judgment. It’s very respectful without being obsequious or patronizing. I’ve fallen in love with the organization and the people.
Yimei: How would you describe what you do with Street Books?
Margaret: I pretend to be part of it. I called myself an apprentice a few times, or an aspiring librarian. I feel as if there is always something new to learn and there is so much to learn.
Yimei: Why do you hang out with us?
Margaret: Because I want to. I grew up in a family where service to others was very important. When I retired from hospice nursing, I felt at loose ends. I kept busy, grandchildren will do that, but this is again providing service, and I feel as if I’m getting back at least as much as I give.
Yimei: What’s your favorite book?
Margaret: Right now what comes to mind is the Music of Bees. I love it. It starts out with three people whose lives are in a total mess and their emotional states are in a total mess and they collide, these three worlds collide. And it ends with all of them empowered and feeling joyful. That’s not how they said it, but they’re at peace with themselves.
Yimei: Do you find that relates to what we do?
Margaret: Yeah, and it's also just a book of hope.
Contact us at librarian@streetbooks.org to learn more about volunteering
Donate! (and consider making it monthly)
Spring for Street Books: Growing Support for a Community of Care
The Street Books Spring Campaign launches in April, and we are currently arranging partnerships with bookstores and restaurants who would like to support Street Books during the campaign. Are you a bookstore or a restaurant who'd like to find out more about what that means? Email our Operations & Development Director, Monica Beemer, for more information about what we got cooking - and feel free to propose your own ideas to them too! monica@streetbooks.org (she/her/they/them)
IN THE NEWS: Street Books board member & acclaimed human Ed Edmo is featured in a February profile in Underscore Magazine. We are grateful he is part of the Street Books crew!