From the journal of Carol Evans, July 10

July 10, 2017

   

    I've always loved books and now I get to spend most of my time in a library. And not just any library. It was a really good one before we got here, but now, we've added a lot more books. Yesterday, I went along on a mission to the Pitkin Library and had a hard time limiting my selections to bring back. There are so many good books, from classics to children's novels to books on history, mythology, math, etc. Williams had to keep telling me to only take one book on each subject, for now.

     But, when I got to the classics, I put my foot down. Whoever owned the compound before the pandemic had books heavy on American authors, but severely lacking in Shakespeare, Dickens and other Old World authors. I had allotted almost a quarter of my allowed books to be taken from this section because the language they used needs to not be completely forgotten. I mean, stories like A Mid Summers Night Dream or Romeo and Juliet have some of the most widely quoted lines. I want to get people together to put on a play and Shakespeare can be done by almost everyone! Next, I want to make a trip to Explore Booksellers to see what I can find there.

     If I could get Jenna, Sean and the others involved, the kids would jump right in. Then, we can put on a production for the adults. It will give us something to do in the winter, when they can't go outside to play. I'm going to ask the scouts and scavengers to keep their eyes open for costume clothes and cloth. Maybe, I can convince them to combine a trip to Explore Booksellers and the Stitch Works and I can get books and the stuff I need to make some costumes.

     The library has been really busy lately. Now that people are getting into a routine at their assigned jobs, they want books to relax with. Once survival is not all you're thinking about, then you can start to read for pleasure. Some of the books people came in for were “How-to” books, a lot of them were for fun. Stephen King, Nora Roberts and books on lighter subjects were big winners. The oddest one was someone got a book on inventors to read. But, I was happy to help them with whatever they're looking for. There are books for every type of person and on every subject you can think of, so everyone can find something they like. I even started a list for specific books, genre's or subjects that we still need and will ask our scavengers to keep their eyes open for requests.

     The kids have even gotten the reading bug and have asked me to get more books for them. I had a list of requested books and authors when we went to the library and found a good portion of them to bring back. When they saw the books I'd found, there were happy screams and cheers. They wanted to take the right away but I told them we had to catalog them first, so we know what we have. It's going to take a few more days to get them all written down, but then we can tell, at a glance, what books we have, if someone asks. Ashley and I worked on the log book today and started with the children's books, so they should be recorded by tomorrow afternoon and the kids can start reading while we finish cataloging the rest of the books.

     Soon, we're going to have to take over rooms next to the library to keep all the books in. Williams has told us that when we get the rest of the neighborhood walled in, and people are spread out to the other houses inside the wall, then we can have several rooms, for books, reading rooms and even study groups. The house in the compound will become the administration center and home to the agreed upon leaders of our community. The plans we have are inspiring and will take time to implement, but they give us hope for our future.

As a writer and artist, I appreciate any readers and their comments. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. Please, come read the other blog I write for our artisan collective, Raven's Castle Creations, on our website at www.ravencastlecreations.com. It includes posts on art, the mythology of symbols we use in our art, history and more! Also, come see the art we produce in our Etsy store at etsy.com/shop/RavenCastleCreations. Follow us on Twitter at @ravencastleart and on Facebook at @ravencastlecreations.