Why Donating Books Is a Great Practice, IMHO!
There are people who engross themselves in books and can hold a book to their face any time of the day and read on. And there are people like me who have no affinity to books in particular. Again, that does not mean I don’t read at all.
Then of course, while I read less, I don’t stop buying books and putting it on my ‘to-do list’ of “Someday”. And I am sure I am not the only one having this habit. And if you have a family of such people around you, you sure got a lifetime worth of read that is on the ‘to-do list of Someday’.
Books Age
Even the ardent book lovers will agree that as time passes by, whether the books has passed many hands or is sitting in a shelf, books age (especially the unused ones) and one day could crumble into pieces. So, time to “Save The Books”.
Paper VS Digital
With mobile phones being the first interface to knowledge that most are seeing, its hardly a possibility that the number of smartphone users which is estimated to reach 340.2 million in India alone and exceed 2.3 billion users worldwide (Statistica projection — by 2017), can be ignored. It has crossed 300 million in January, already.
The smell of paper, the feel of a book and every other part of the experience GenX so enjoys is not what the Millennials are growing up with. That also means lesser books will be bought. And if we really wish to pass on this experience, the only way is to share what we have (I mean books, here).
The Spiritual Side
[I hate the locution “Spiritual” that has been overused and abused in unrelated contexts and have used it here merely to get your attention.]
Or as I call it the satisfaction of the soul (mind and soul are the same in my opinion).
With the context set, the flush of satisfaction that comes when we give something that we have benefited from, to someone who might use it to his/her gain, is a feeling requiring no explanation.
Summing It Up
Everyone wants to earn goodwill en route. The books we read has given us knowledge. Now its time to pass on the heritage to the youthful minds. The best way, in my opinion, is to donate books to those with the intent to learn and help others in the same.
My choice of place to give them to, now that I have collected quite some, is a Local Library. And the choice is pretty selfish.
Why Library?
1. Well, my goodwill expands as its no more helping one person.
2. I have fulfilled my responsibility and conveniently passed the baton to the library to spread the goodness. Passive Goodwill Income.
Why Local?
1. I could have more knowledgeable people around me and possibly more people that I can have some common grounds to talk about, if ever I did.
2. I can go and check on how my books are being received, thus learning if books are in vogue at all. And thus monitoring my Passive Goodwill Income.
Let the Book live its Second Life, Pass It On.
