If Not For Yourself, Then Do It For Others

Getting rid of clutter for clutter’s sake is not very rewarding.  It brings you face-to-face with the accumulation of your life; memories, poor purchases that never delivered the feeling you sought in purchasing it, possessions you have long since outgrown or no longer need.  It can feel like trudging through a morass of mud and sludge.

Yet, when motivated by a higher purpose we often find it easier to part with things.  Following Hurricane Katrina millions of Americans purged their homes of items they thought would better serve the hurricane survivors; clothing, blankets, household items, furniture and more.

When assisting clients we often find the motivation of “repurposing” possessions a powerful motivator.  Things begin flying into boxes and bags to be transported to some worthwhile non-profit organization serving a population in need.  (see earlier blog, “One Man’s Trash Is Another Man’s Treasure”)

I want to share my latest find.  A wonderful non-profit with a higher calling that we can all help support while lightening our own loads.  “Open Books”  is a newly founded non-profit used bookstore supporting literacy in Chicago.  I recently learned of Open Books in DailyCandy Chicago when they highlighted the tremendous work of this dynamic duo, Stacy Ratner and Becca Keaty.  After successful careers in other non-profits and start-ups, these two formidable and energetic women made a conscious decision to combine their vocation and their avocation.  

Open Books will fund literacy programming through the sale of used books.  And this creates a wonderful WIN/WIN for all of us storing boxes of dusty volumes of long-ago read and loved books.

Before I tell you how you can help, please allow me to share with you some statistics about literacy as gleaned from the Open Books website (www.open-books.org).

We tend to think of ourselves, Americans, that is, as well-educated and literate.  However, the facts don’t support that.   The National Institute for Family Literacy published results for major cities across the US and it’s shocking to learn how low the literacy rates are in this nation!  The National Adult Literacy Survey revealed that 40 to 44 million adults living in America demonstrated skills in the lowest level of prose, document and quantitative proficiencies (Level I).  In plain speak that means that 40 to 44 million adults may be able to read a little, but not well enough to fill out a job application, read a food label, or even a simple story to a child. 

This group of adults read below the 4th grade level!  20% of all adults read at or below the 5th grade level - putting them far below the level needed to earn a living wage.  This impacts our country socially, morally, and economically - in fact, in every way.  $60 billion annually is the cost to Corporate America to correct errors, waste, accidents and lost productivity due to low literacy.  And the American Management Association reports that 36% of job applicants tested by major US corporations lack sufficient reading and math skills to do the job they seek. 

70% of incarcerated prisoners lack a high school diploma or GED.  These figures fly in the face of the legislative acts of 1965, Goals 2000 and, the latest and polarizing legislation of 2002, “No Child Left Behind”.  How can this country remain great if we can’t teach our citizens to read?  How can we hope to elevate people out of poverty if we can’t get books into their hands along with the reading skills to consume them?

Think this doesn’t affect you?  Think there’s nothing you can do to help?  Think again!  This is where the Win/Win begins.

Open Books has a goal of 50,000 volumes of books in their inventory.  And you can very easily help!  Open Books is seeking children’s books, novels, textbooks, reference materials (got a set of encyclopedias hanging out on your bookshelves gathering dust?), and more for their bookstore. 

You can empty your bookshelves, garages, and storage spaces and help support literacy in Chicago where only 37% of our adult population earn a Level I literacy rating.  You benefit in a number of ways: 

     1.  You’ll receive a tax deduction for the donation of your books.

     2.  You’ll reduce the cost of your storage space by sending your stored books into the hands of someone who has yet to read them.

     3.  You’ll open space for new books to enter, and

     4.  You’ll be supporting literacy in Chicago and that just plain feels good.

So start boxing up your books and call Stacy and Becca.  (888.851.0701 or info@open-books.org)  Open Books makes it so easy; they will even pick them up.  Could this be any easier?!?    Get packing . . .

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