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Up And Coming
National Night Out
5 August
Eli's Cheesecake Farmers Market
14 August
21 August
It Takes A Village Reading Buddies Outing
23 August
Open Books Social and Info Session*
29 August
30 August
Art On The Track
30 August
Chicagoland Bicycle Federation Boulevard Lakefront Tour
7 September
Danny's Peace Party II To Benefit Open Books
8 September
*NOTE: If you are new to the Open Books family or have been contributing forever but still haven't been to our inspiring office headquarters, please RSVP (with the date you want to attend) to volunteer@open-books.org. Food and games will be provided so we need to know how many of our volunteers and friends to expect at each session. Sessions last an hour to an hour and a half. See you soon! :) - Erin
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Open Mic:
Summer
Marketing and Development Interns
Carly DiVito, Jasett Chatham, and Krista Ravenscraft are summer interns here at Open Books. They've been working hard at events and bookmoves all over town, but we caught them long enough to ask...
How would you spend your last 24 hours if you knew the world would end in the morning?
CD: Freaking out trying to stop the world from ending and then maybe taking a hot air balloon ride.
JC: I would spend them with all the people I love, just enjoying their company.
KR: First of all, I wouldn't spend any of it sleeping. I would remind those who know it already that I love them, and I would tell a few who don't that I do. Then I'd grab one of the books I'd put on the shelf planning to savor on a special occasion, because the last occasion is certainly special.
What was your dream job when you were 5?
CD: Marine biologist.
JC: Teacher and part-time cashier at a grocery store so I could scan things. Self-checkout is the best invention known to mankind.
KR: I wanted to be a teacher, even before I had gone to school. I guess I associated teachers with books, which I enjoyed paging through and hearing, although I didn't learn to read until first grade (kindergarten wasn't mandatory, and my mother was too pregnant to want to drive me every day).
If you could have dinner with 3 people (real or fictional), who would you invite and what would you eat?
CD: Cool Hand Luke, Larry David & Mata Hari. And we would feast on my mom's stuffed peppers.
JC: Barack Obama, Reese Witherspoon and John Grisham. We would eat sandwiches and drink chai.
KR: Voltaire, Alfred Einstein, and Hildegarde of Bingen. In honor of Voltaire, and since he's associated with the better cuisine, we'd begin our feast with escargots accompanied by fresh brioches, some fine pate de compagne, and then, because the hour is late, we having lost a sense of time through our animated repartee, we'd skip to dessert, some gooey patisserie. Or perhaps Alfred has brought along a strudel...
What was your favorite childhood toy or game?
CD: Legos and Clue.
JC: American Girl.
KR: My mother wanted to focus me on a life of the mind, so I don't really recall having any toys or dolls that I was attached to. I got pretty good at some of the old-fashioned games, like jacks and pickup stix, and jumping rope was fun if there was a crowd.
If you had one superpower, what would it be?
CD: Time travel.
JC: To be like Alex Mack from The Secret World of Alex Mack, a 90's Nickelodeon show. She could zap people with electricity from her finger, move things with her mind and turn into a mobile puddle.
KR: I would like the power of invisibility, which I could call on at will to listen in on certain conversations.
What secret obsession do you have that no one knew about before this interview?
CD: SuperNanny.
JC: Songwriting, but I wouldn't say there's anything that at least one person doesn't know about.
KR: My secret obsession, which is not so secret to my immediate family, is my eternal search for the perfect pen. I don't know what it will look like, but when I pick it up, my writing will flow effortlessly across the page, and I will be able to write the novels I know are in here somewhere. Until then, I collect attractive or odd-looking ones, short of the ones plated with precious metals costing thousands of dollars.
What makes you laugh uncontrollably?
CD: Pretty much any situation where it would be totally inappropriate to laugh uncontrollably.
JC: Nick Swardson talking about old people during his stand up on Comedy Central.
KR: I tend to laugh at stupid slapstick, or intricate wordplay - I think it's the English in me. My children have apparently inherited it, too, and my husband is sometimes embarrassed at what we will laugh at. Anything Monty Python, particularly Monty Python and the Holy Grail, gets me going. I recommend Spinal Tap too for a sure laugh, and if you haven't seen Walk Hard, do it if you won't embarrass yourself laughing at the dumb parts.
What book are you reading right now?
CD: Oil! by Upton Sinclair.
JC: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.
KR: I haven't been able to read as much as I'd like this busy summer, but I'm currently reading a biography of Bill Maudlin, the World War II "embedded" cartoonist and social commentator.
What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
CD: Haagen-Dazs Caramel Cone.
JC: Don't really have one. Maybe cookies 'n' cream.
KR: That would have to be Black Cherry, and the best I've found is at Sherman Dairy in South Haven, Michigan.
What is playing on your iPod these days?
CD: The Gutter Twins and Fleetwood Mac.
JC: Gravity and Vegas by Sara Bareilles or Covered in Rain and In Your Atmosphere by John Mayers.
KR: I only have a cheap(er) knockoff (I bought myself an iPod, but my son's broke just around the holidays, and he ended up getting it). I listen to a variety of things, but I'm most likely to dial up the "best" of disco and funk in order to get me energized and moving (otherwise I'd be trying to catch up on my reading).
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THANK YOU
Open Books thanks Dave & Buster's for hosting us in June! We had a great time at our event.
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August! Picnics, ice cream, the hottest month in the northern hemisphere, trips to the beach...and, of course, another busy month at Open Books. But before we fill you in on all the fun we've been up to recently, let's look to the future (aka the fall)! Autumn 2008 is chock-full of new volunteer opportunities for you and all your community-conscious friends.
Here's where YOU are needed most right now:
1. as an Open Books Buddy reading mentor at one of our fall school sites around Chicagoland (see locations and RSVP on our Volunteer page);
2. as a (weekly or occasional) creative writing field trip volunteer, Tuesday and/or Thursday mornings (reply to fieldtrips@open-books.org for more information on joining the super-fun field trips team); AND
3. as a special events volunteer at It Takes A Village on Saturday, Aug. 23, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. or for several exciting outings in August (get info and RSVP on our Events page).
We know what you are thinking . . .
Q: Does Open Books really need LITTLE OL' ME for these programs and events?
A: YES! WE NEED YOU! TONS! (And while we've been meaning to ask if you've lost weight, please know that you are never little to us!) Open Books is taking a bit of a leap of faith as we enter our first full school year of literacy programs. We're expanding, big time, and we just know our volunteers and friends will help us make that happen. You have proven time and time again how wonderful and committed you are. Keep it up!
Please sign up for one or more of the three Open Books options above.
Thanks so much (with extra thanks to those who've already RSVPed to be a buddy, a writing coach, or an event volunteer -- you rock!). Ooh, and speaking of rock, hugs and high-fives to our Pitchfork Music Festival volunteer team. You guys rocked our world more than all the great bands combined (as the photos attest)!
Now, please keep reading for August news and more great ways to become -- or continue being -- the Open Books all-star we know you are!
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Literacy For A Better World
Open Books has always been a huge admirer of the Better World Books enterprise and their amazing operation. We are proud to announce that we will be working with Better World Books to sell books on the Web. Better World is a social venture with the mission of promoting literacy. They believe that literacy gives people water to drink, imparts knowledge to
eliminate disease, and develops self-esteem that enables people to make
their mark on the world. Open Books shares all these beliefs and is passionate about the power of partnerships, so it was a natural fit for the two groups to come together to further expand the fight against illiteracy!
Drop by the Better World Books page to learn more about their organization, and stay tuned for more information on how you can help us pack and ship books for Web sales!
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Bikes And Books:
Corporate Challenges!
Open Books is broadening its horizons, sailing into the sea of Chicago's businesses to chart new corporate waters, gliding along in a beautifully folded paper boat, with oars made of...
Well, you get the picture. Open Books is beginning Corporate Outreach, and YOU can help!
Option the First: We're volunteering at the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation's Boulevard Lakefront Tour on September 7, and they'll donate money to our literacy programs for every group that signs up! If you think you work with at least nine other awesome folks, let us know and we'll make sure your team gets registered to benefit Open Books. If you think you might work with nine other awesome folks, but are unsure, let us know that, too, and we'll touch base with your Community Relations department and see what we can do.
Option the Second: Virtual Book Drives! Have you already given us all your books? The Virtual Book Drive is a super-easy way to get your colleagues riled up for literacy -- no heavy lifting, no real live books necessary! Your role can be pretty minimal -- you get the ball rolling and we'll push it along (with, perhaps, the aforementioned oar...). Interested? Let us know!
Option the Third: Open Bookshelves. If you've been to our office, you've seen them in the elevator lobbies: fabulous, colorful, Open Books lending libraries. Want one? Get in touch with us to find out how.
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Taking It To The Tracks
YOU: Artsy type with a love of the CTA.
US: In need of volunteers to staff the world's largest mobile art exhibit and spread awareness about literacy.
THE DEETS: August 30th, 6-10 pm, The Loop
Interested? Find out more here!
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Book And Computer News
Book pickups are coming back in August! With the dog days of summer comes a much-needed chance to catch our breath and clear out all of the growing mountains of books from our offices. Stay tuned to our site for updates on when pickups will resume.
We are still in need of computers for our warehouse. If you know of anyone getting rid of an old computer let us know. Not only will you keep it out of the landfill but you can also help out your favorite literacy organization!
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Out Of The Box:
Three Fabulous Finds
In the process of sorting thousands upon thousands of books, there are always a few that stand out. Here are our three favorites for the month.
1. Pharmacy Education at the University of Mississippi: Sketches, Highlights, and Memories
 We know -- and we are sure that many of you, our wonderful book donors, also know -- what it is like when a fad sweeps the book world and suddenly every shelf is full of wizards, or angels, or diets. But the back of this book, with its breathless revelation that it "CONTAINS A LARGE AMOUNT OF INSIDE INFORMATION ABOUT A PHARMACY SCHOOL OFTEN LEFT OUT OF OTHER SIMILAR WORKS," left us speechless. How could we have fallen so far out of touch? How did we not know about the similar works crowding bookshelves nationwide? We can only count ourselves fortunate to have gotten this, the "FACTUAL, VIVIDLY DESCRIPTIVE, AND WELL-DOCUMENTED STORY" as our first one.
2. This Book Is All About Bundling: The True And Diverting Story Of An Old American Technique Of Courtship And Betrothal: Its Growth, Abuse, & Decay, Together With Tales Of The Same Practice In Other Lands, By That Correct And Amusing Historian, Henry Reed Stiles.
 There are times when, in the presence of genius, all we can do is bow our heads and acknowledge the divine inspiration with which we are presented. And in this case, having faithfully reprinted the title of this amazing book, we think we are justified in saying that nothing we can add to it would be of even remotely similar quality.
3. Enjoying Hummingbirds More
 Life in the big city where we make our homes and pursue our mission is often, and depressingly, full of odious comparisons. People want to do things better, faster, and more/less expensively than other people, and magazine covers everywhere advertise ways in which such betterment can be achieved. But to discover that the ceaseless quest for superiority has come even to the harmless world of hummingbird enjoyment...well, it is a sad day. We enjoy hummingbirds, or at least we thought we did. Several of our friends, family members, and other loved ones enjoy them. But we did not know that we could be enjoying them MORE, and that by implication we could make sure that everyone else is enjoying them LESS. This thin little manual and its implicit taunt regarding our failure to absolutely maximize our enjoyment of hummingbirds is a stark reminder of our intellectual laziness. We must, apparently, do better.
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