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Following in Carnegie’s Footsteps, One Little Free Library at a Time

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My awesome Mom, Sue Garvin, recently installed a new book-based feature in her backyard and I asked her to write about it in the hopes that some Bushwick members would be inspired to build their own.

Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish born man from a poor family who immigrated to America with his parents in 1848. He became one of the richest men of his time through investments in the steel industry, railroad sleeping cars, bridges and oil derricks. In 1889, he wrote “The Gospel of Wealth” wherein he urged the wealthy to use their money to improve society. He took on many philanthropic projects, but the one still thriving today is his establishment of public libraries. All in all, he funded 2,510 libraries in 47 states, and countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Forty-Three Carnegie libraries were built in Washington State alone. Thirty-two of these buildings still stand and 14 are libraries to this day. Locally, you can find Carnegie libraries are in Columbia City, Fremont, Green Lake, Queen Anne, First Hill and West Seattle. Read more

Bookshelf Report: Library Guy with a Joint Collection

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The Bookshelf Report is an ongoing series where we ask 5 questions and share 5 pictures of a bookshelf  belonging to a Bushwick reader. Today’s bookshelf comes from Levi Fuller, a veritable veteran of the Bushwick Book Club Seattle. Over the years he’s performed songs inspired by The Shining, 1984, Dr. Seuss, Alice in Wonderland, Lust by Ellen Forney, and many others.

leviShelf_11

What is your favorite book on these shelves?

I will give you two answers: My current favorite book on these shelves as a possession is a recent edition, my signed copy of Ellen Forney’s Lust. It will always remind me of how much fun it was to play the Bushwick show for that book, and how gracious and wonderful Ellen was. My favorite book just as a thing to read is probably David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, although that’s tough to answer, as I pretty much only hold on to books that I really love or have some other attachment to. Read more