Give a book, change a life, twitter style

Okay, maybe change a life is a bit drastic, but you could at least change someone's day! 

Last week, two of my reading queens of the 5^th grade class came to me and asked if the library had any books they were getting rid of. Of course, being the supportive and nosey librarian that I am, I asked why.

When they told me about a project they and a few of their fellow 5^th graders were starting, my heart sang and tear threatened to spill over. They were on a mission to collect books for teens who, due to medical issues, were required to spend time, sometimes a lot of time, at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital. It seems that there are a lot of books for little ones, but when it came to YA lit, not so much. They couldn’t imagine anything worse than being confined to your room and not having any good books to read.

Honestly, I’m perfectly healthy and the idea of not being able to read good YA lit is depressing. I assured them that I had just done a weed a few months before and hadn’t gotten around to donating them anywhere and they were there’s for the taking.

Now, most of the books were pulled because they were old or tattered, but a few are in decent shape. Still, their plea got me to thinking: I know writers. I know avid readers. 90% of my twitter followers are somehow related to the book industry. So I thought I would try a test to see just how powerful the social media machine can be. I’m sending out a plea of my own, to you, my literary friends. A chance to give back and maybe, just maybe, help a teen escape the confines of needles and IVs to a world that is romantic, full of adventure, or even a little more scary than their own lives.

My goal, through social media, is to collect 50 books from twitter followers. That’s it. In the next two weeks, if you have a moment to pull an already completed YA book from your shelf or dig out a duplicate from your TBR pile… you know you have them… and mail them to me, you just might make a teen’s day.

Post in the comments below with your email and I will send you my mailing address. If we hit 50… let’s go for 100… maybe, if we can collect enough books, every teen who leaves the Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital will have a prized book in their possession! I’m starting it off with two books from my private collection… who’s with me?

I thank you in advance and remind you to BE FEARLESS with every moment you have!