Since you're all book lovers, and some of you may or may not live in Virginia, I just wanted to drop a little note to let you guys know there's a cool initiative going on at the Fredericksburg Central Park Barnes and Noble (and maybe some other B&Ns around the country) where at the checkout you can also donate a book of your choice to area children! That's kind of cool! I chose one of the Magic Treehouse Books, because I remember really getting a taste of the wonder of history through them, and because they're pretty fun! So if you're in the area you should totally do some of your Christmas and Chanukah shopping there!
The Fburg area B&N is ALSO letting local students ask for donations for their school today. You may love this, and if you do, you should head down and grab some books. Personally, I don't feel super-great about the whole donate-extra-money-to-the-govt-thing, since I happen to have gone to school in the area, and I happen to know these particular schools inflate their budget at the end of the year to get extra federal funding. (That's actually pretty normal: anyone who works in govt can tell you that a lot of bureaucracies do this, where instead of asking for exactly the money they need, and trying to create efficient solutions that cut spending, they'll actually buy up extra useless stuff like hundreds of staplers and whatever to make sure that at the end of the fiscal year they get extra funding.) So to me, it seems a little crooked that these schools will then go send children out to collect MORE money for them.*
But my qualms aside, you know, it's so nerve-wracking as a little teen girl to ask people for money, and they really deserve at least a high five. They're all raising money for particular departments, which you know may or may not get enough funding from the school depending on politics with the principal. (When I went to Colonial Forge High, it was common knowledge among the students that the principal shifted around funding for departments depending on which ones her kids enrolled in) So stop by and show these kids some love.
And any way, this post is about B&N, not about public schools, and I'm just really psyched that the business tries to engage with the community in a deeper level. We need businesses like that. As writers, this is part of the reason we love book stores: they create real life stories, while selling and sharing our stories. They're safe places for humans to dream about a greater future where we all come together to help each other out, regardless of personal differences or the wrongs of history. A+ and two thumbs up to Fburg B&N.
That's not just the yummy book cafe pretzel in my tummy talking, I promise. -_^
~Jen
byjenfinelli.com
*(Full disclaimer, I'm friends with people who are currently in court against Stafford County School System to try to get equal access for their handicapped kids and end disability discrimination, so I have some pretty hardcore bias against that system)
No comments:
Post a Comment