Year End 2012

Yesterday we closed the year at the Meals on Wheels Cheyenne book room. We cleaned up, discarded unsellable books, and took the monthly physical inventory.

During 2012, we received 55,212 book donations. We sold 27,603 books. On the average almost exactly 50% of the donations are sold. We discarded 26,655. A certain number are in no condition to sell. Most are on the shelves for a period of time and do not sell. I hate tossing books but (1) we only have so much space, and (2) people do not like looking through books that no one wants. The latter I know from many years experience.

Book room volunteers donated a total of 753.50 hours. So for every 37 books sold there has been one hour of volunteer time.

Book room volunteers also donated 2,066 miles of vehicle usage.

David Sneed

Expurgation

Many types of books come in to the Meals on Wheels Book Room. If books are unsellable due to damage, missing covers, or whatever, they are discarded. Also Reader's Digest condensed books and old textbooks. No one buys them anywhere. But what about censorship? What should we do if we find books that may be objectionable for whatever reason? The Book Room volunteers have adopted the American Library Association interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights. See below for text.

Plain and simple, if a book is potentially marketable it goes on the shelf. It does not mean that Meals on Wheels or any staff or volunteers endorse the book.

That leaves removal for lack of sales. Every library, book store, and thrift store only has room for so many books. If books do not sell after a period of time they are removed.

 We are open to any other ideas or comments?

David Sneed

Expurgation of Library Materials

An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights

Expurgating library materials is a violation of the Library Bill of Rights. Expurgation as defined by this interpretation includes any deletion, excision, alteration, editing, or obliteration of any part(s) of books or other library resources by the library, its agent, or its parent institution (if any). By such expurgation, the library is in effect denying access to the complete work and the entire spectrum of ideas that the work intended to express. Such action stands in violation of Articles I, II, and III of the Library Bill of Rights, which state that "Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation," that "Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval," and that "Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment."

The act of expurgation has serious implications. It involves a determination that it is necessary to restrict access to the complete work. This is censorship. When a work is expurgated, under the assumption that certain portions of that work would be harmful to minors, the situation is no less serious.

Expurgation of any books or other library resources imposes a restriction, without regard to the rights and desires of all library users, by limiting access to ideas and information. (See also other Interpretations to the Library Bill of Rights, including Access to Electronic Information, Services, and Networks and Free Access to Libraries for Minors.)

Further, expurgation without written permission from the holder of the copyright on the material may violate the copyright provisions of the United States Code.

---

Adopted February 2, 1973, by the ALA Council; amended July 1, 1981; January 10, 1990.

[ISBN 8389-5419-7]

Related Files

Expurgation of Library Materials (PDF File)

End of October

Tonight we closed the month with a physical inventory and our monthly report of activity. Records are an important part of the process. The whole inventory turns about every 2.5 weeks. always something new. Some customers visit several times a week.

The new shelves we got as a donation at the first of the month are really working out well. They are a good looking wood product. With the carpet and the wood tables the Book section really looks good.

We did lose another of our stuffed cats, our bookstore mascot, even though it waas glued securely. The perpetrator had to struggle to get it loose. Again we have replaced it.

David Sneed

How Can Rene Descartes be at Meals on Wheels?

Everyone knows that Air Force 1 refers to any aircraft that has the President on board.

Why limit the idea to the naming of aircraft?

At Meals on Wheels we use a shopping cart for loading up discard material. A "discart" if you will.

Today I decided that we would call any cart that we use for discards by the name Rene. "Rene Discart."

If you do not get that double pun then you need to do more reading. Of our philosophy books and humor books.

At the Meals on Wheels book room there is plenty of quality reading material. We often have books by and about Rene Descartes the French Philosopher, Scientist, and Mathematician. His work would never be in "Rene Discart"because his books all sell.

To Hipsters, college and high school students, and to those who just want to learn.

David Sneed

PS: The photo to the left is Rene Descartes and not the author of this blog. 

Dick Francis

Ever heard of Dick Francis? I had not until yesterday when  we received quite a few hard back novels written by him.

Wikipedia describes his occupation as jockey-turned-writer. Francis, who passed away in February 2010, made a name for himself as a jockey and did the same as a mystery writer. 

Look him up on wikipedia. his biography is too lengthy to summarize here.

David Sneed

Encyclopedias

The Meals on Wheels book room, like most book stores, does not keep encyclopedias. They are obsolete. The Internet is a much better source of information. Can you believe that it was not so long ago that we would spend a lot of money to get an annual update book to our encyclopedias?

We did take it what I would have to call a brand new set of World Book from 1973. The original owner was convinced by a door to door salesman of the value of having this set of books. And he was right. The books contained plenty of information. It would be of benefit to their children. Alas! I think no one ever looked up anything in the set of books. We decided to see what would happen.

The books are sitting on our shelf untouched.

No one wants them.

David Sneed

Ray Bradbury, the science fiction writer, died today at age 91. The Meals on Wheels Book Room frequently has his works available though I don't think anything is there now. 

Bradbury is best known for his 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451. Paper will burn at 451 degrees fahrenheit. In 

the story the job of the fire department is to burn books. The government has decided that books can make people unhappy and therefore books are banned. The heroes in the story each become a book by memorizing it and constantly repeating it. 

Bradbury also wrote Martian Chronicles. 

In one of his short stories a man is arrests for talking a walk and for not having a tv. 

The basic theme of Bradbury's work is the problems with love of technology. 

He will be missed. 

David Sneed 

A Sad Day in the Book Room

I heard early today that a large number of books was coming in to the Meals on Wheels Book Room.

We got there and began to empty the boxes. Most of the books were wet. I don;t know if they had been left out in the rain or of something else had happened. Is it possible that someone had some water damage and used Meals on Wheels as a free dumping ground?

Anyway it was a sad day.

David Sneed

French Language Novels

Today we got a number of French novels in French. There is also a book, also in French, called "French Novels in French."

We did put them out on the end cap shelf.

It would be great to find someone who can read French who could take them.

We'll see what happens.

David Sneed

Ever heard of Mack Bolan?

Today we got in a lot of Mack Bolan books by Don Pendleton. According to Wikipedia:

Mack Bolan, alias The Executioner, is a fictional character who has been serialized in over six hundred novels with sales of more than 200 million, according to Amazon.com. Created by Don Pendleton, Bolan made his first appearance on the printed page in 1969's War Against the Mafia. Pendleton wrote thirty-seven other novels featuring Bolan, often referred to as the "Mafia Wars". In 1980, Pendleton sold his rights to the character to Gold Eagle who hired a number of ghostwriters to continue publishing Bolan monthly to keep up with reader demand worldwide. Don Pendleton remained credited as the sole author and supervised these new adventures which traveled the Bolan character all over the world fighting terrorism. This new series of books featured Bolan as a principled warrior fighting larger than life adversaries in the spirit of a tougher American version of James Bond. The demand for the books continued and Gold Eagle began releasing as many as fifteen titles annually. In addition, Bolan was "spun off" into several new adventure book series which also carried the Mack Bolan/Don Pendleton names and sold extremely well. As of 2009, there are more than twelve Mack Bolan novels published every year worldwide by Gold Eagle Books, a division of Harlequin Books.


We also got in a number of Zane Grey plus quite a few westerns.

David Sneed

End of May

We ended the month with 2,865 books in inventory. About what we usually have.

Yes we actually count the books at month end! It only takes about 30 minutes for one counter (me.)

So far this calendar year we have sold 10,101 books. We average a book sale about every 40 seconds that the store is open.

The inventory turns rapidly so there are always new books. Whatever comes in each day goes on the shelf that day.

David Sneed

Encyclopedias

Usually we throw out encyclopedias. They are obsolete as everyone now goes to the internet for information in any desired context. The likelihood of unedited errors are viewed as more desirable than information that was correct years ago that is now no longer true.

We did put out a 21 volume Handyman's Encyclopedia and it sold immediately. I guess it can be said that some information retains truth.

David Sneed

We Get Poetry

We do get poetry books at Meals on Wheels.  One good one is called Good Poems compiled by Garrison Keillor of Prairie Home Companion on Public Radio. FRom that book is is Dilemma by David Budbill, a poet from Vermont, who deserves to be famous. 


I want to be 

            famous

so I can be

            humble

about being 

            famous.

What good is my

           humility

when I am

           stuck

in this

           obscurity?

There is good poetry and bad poetry. I like the shorter poems like Dilemma. 

David Sneed

Book Rooms Need Chairs - the Right Kind

We went to the Meals on Wheels Store tonight. Someone had taken the chairs and replaced them with some really nice padded metal chairs.

Who did that?

The purpose of a chair in a book room is so that someone can easily reach the lower shelves. So what kind of chair would it be?

1. It would be light enough to easily be moved around by anyone.
2. It would be small enough not to occupy much space.
3. It would be low enough to make it easy to see low shelves.

A child's school chair fits the bill. That is what we had.

We did some looking around and found the chairs. The right chairs.

Hopefully they will stay where they are.

David Sneed

According to Mark Twain What is a Banker?

Someone sent us the answer.

"A banker is someone who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it starts to rain." Mark Twain

There are plenty of books at Meals on Wheels of quotes, quotes in context in novels, and humorous quotes. All books in the book room are 50 cents each.

David Sneed

Great Donation Today

Yesterday we got a donation of 645 quality books.

There is an assortment of fiction, classics, travel, mystery, westerns, and a whole variety of other things.

They were put out on the shelves last night.

9 of them will be in the boutique in the other building.

We welcome when folks donate their libraries. I am going through mine and making donations.

David Sneed

Why We Don't Have Discount Sales on Books

There are two reasons that we have no discount sales on books.

The first is that they are cheap enough as is. Fifty cents for some good reading. A bargain for sure.

The second reason comes from Samuel Johnson, who was frequently called Dr Johnson. He was an Englishman who lived from 1709 to 1785. He spent nine years writing A Dictionary of the English Language.  It was 150 years before it had an equal in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1905. Frequently there are copies of that one at Meals on Wheels.

Ready for the second reason? Dr Johnson once said "People seldom read a book which is given to them. The way to spread a work is to sell it at a low price."

You will have to agree that fifty cents is a low price. Any lower would be tantamount to giving them away.

Dr Johnson lived at 17 Gough Square in the City of London diagonally across a small park from Wine Office Court and Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub. This pub is referred to as the new one. The old one burned in 1667 and was then rebuilt. So the new one is only 345 years old. Many well known writers including Charles Dickens, G. K. Chesterton, Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, Mark Twain, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Alfred Tennyson frequented this pub. I have been there several times and have also visited Samuel Johnson's home. Now as I sort books at Meals on Wheels I have Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese as something in common with the authors.

David Sneed

Mart Closed for Five Days

The Meals on Wheels Mart will be closed from Friday April 6 through Tuesday April 10.

Last night we went in and put out books that had come in from many places. There is quite a variety of new books.

I am puzzled about humor. Does no one in Cheyenne have a sense of humor? The collection of humor books keeps increasing.

There are some excellent biographies. Contemporary folks as well as many from the distant past. There is an autobiography of Maya Angelou.

There are some really good self-help and motivational books.

We are often asked about western novels. We now have plenty of them. It looks like they are not selling.

Wednesday. 10:00AM. Be there and get some good books!

David Sneed

Interesting Activity

Sunday night we brought in a lot of books and did some rearranging. Monday and Tuesday the store is not open. So the next time we went in was tonight.

We noted that many classics and romance novels had sold today. I thought that was interesting. Everything else was normal sales activity.

Today we have added a number of James Michener hardbacks.

There are a number of non-fictions about the Mafia that we got today. They are all together on one shelf.

There is now a writer's section. For a long time we never had any dictionaries. Now plenty are coming in and selling. To that section we have added books of quotations and how to write different things. Those books are also selling well.

David Sneed

Current Quote from Novelist Peter Carey

Every weekend the Financial Times has a full-page interview with someone. The page is called "Lunch with the FT." It could be anywhere in the world. The guest this week is ex-hippie Peter Carey who is a novelist. There is always a graphic of the cost of the lunch items and cost. This week lunch was at the Gramercy Tavern in New York City. The total cost for the two was $196.28 including tax and tip. The FT reporter had two glasses of wine at $12 each. The guest author had two glasses at $24.50 each. In a discussion of the environment Carey said in speaking about ecology:

"I can't see a happy end." he says looking around at New York's smart crowd - "but I like this wine."

Western Novels

Many western novels have just come in. There are a number of Louis L'Amour as might be expected.

In the westerns that came in there are many authors represented by only one book. Did the reader not like any of the authors enough to buy more? Did the author write only one book?

What becomes a collection is to like an author who is writing plenty of books. In my library I have plenty of E Phillips Oppenheim and Joseph C Lincoln. Mary Lasswell was not as prolific a writer but I have at least one copy of all her books. I think no one could have all of Elbert Hubbard (Not L Ron Hubbard.) I do have a number of his writings.

A large number of romance novels have come in. Someone said that the romance novels are the same story with different names and locations. That concept is not new. The Stratemeyer Syndicate started by Edward Stratemeyer used ghostwriters to write most of the children's novels in the 20th century with new editions still coming out. Rover Boys, Nancy Drew, Tom Swift, Hardy Boys, Happy Hollisters and many more. These were all formula books with entertainment as the goal. I was always amused about the editing. Even name changes might not be caught.

We did get a nice comment from one buyer about the classics section.

Gradually the Book Room is getting something for everyone.

David Sneed

A Busman's Holiday in San Francisco

Today I was at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco. I always enjoy visiting that store. I like the books and I like the ambiance.


I bought a copy of David Meltzer's new book When I was a Poet. A few brief excerpts:

AMULET FOR SILENCE
"Unplug the world.
If that's too hard,
turn off the electricity powering your house."


"A puzzle no matter
How I move it
Never solves itself. "

From the very lengthy poem When I was a Poet:

"When I was a Poet
the World was
a cluster of Words
splattered upon white space

When I was a Poet
I knew even what I didn't"

further along

"When  I was a Poet
Willie Nelson
was back to back w/ (sic)
Paul Celan                                   
side by side
On the Trail of Tears"


There are poetry books in your Meals on Wheels Book Room. You don't have to become a poetry addict. I certainly am not but from time to time I do enjoy poetry. There are so many different kinds. You can hate some kinds and love others. David Meltzer is in the genre of Beat Poetry. Like Allen Ginzberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti who founded City Lights. Some say beat poetry is full of despair. I say that it describes how things are. By knowing how things are we can more easily make changes. 


David Sneed

Ann McCaffrey Festival

Most of the 131 Louis L'Amour books were sold today.

Now we have an abundance of Ann McCaffrey science fiction-fantasy books mostly hardback.

McCaffrey was an American born Irish writer and an important figure in the science fiction genre. She passed away on November 21, 2011 at the age of 85 at her home in County Wicklow Ireland.

These are the first of her books I have seen. They  are on the end cap under the bulletin board on the top shelf and the underneath shelves.

Better hurry!

David Sneed

Louis L'Amour Festival in Cheyenne Wyoming

The Meals on Wheels Book Room has received a donation of 131 Louis L'Amour western novels. 

I have never read any of his work. I know that he is quite popular. 

Folks are always asking for more western novels. We are dependent on whatever people donate. 

To give everyone a chance to get one of the books Cheri scattered them throughout the fiction section rather than put them all together. 

Otherwise she thought one buyer  might come in and take all of them. 

Why don't I read one? Right now I just don't have the time. My preference is non-fiction  and I have a backlog of unread books. 

David Sneed

Spring Cleaning is in Full Swing in Cheyenne

Spring cleaning is in full swing in Cheyenne.

The Meals on Wheels Book Room is getting plenty of books. 801 on Thursday alone.

Novels that were read over the winter have been moved out. The results of winter self-help study are now available to others. In some cases older books from further back in the basement have been donated. Right now there is clearly something for everyone.

Spring cleaning makes me think of the old joke "What is green and comes out of the basement on St Patrick's day? Paddie O'Furniture (patio furniture.)

Books selections are good as are other donated items.

David Sneed

The Cat is Gone

The mascot cat is gone. Something happened to it on Saturday afternoon. There was a sale on stuffed animals and we figure someone bought it cheap.

Today we brought in 891 books. Some really good ones too.

David Sneed

90 Year Old Couple Celebrating 62 Years of Marriage

This couple, aged 90, is celebrating 62 years of marriage. They were at the doctor's office.  There was a piano so they decided to have some fun. We are only as old as our attitude.
David Sneed


Watch Christian Videos and Read the Online Bible at GodVine.com

Why I Think That Carl Sandburg Never Visited Wyoming

In the biography section in the Book Room at Meals on Wheels Cheyenne there is a biography of Carl Sandburg the poet. I have not read the book yet I am sure that he never came to Wyoming. Sandburg wrote a poem called Buffalo Dusk.

"The buffaloes are gone.
And those who saw the buffalos are gone.
Those who saw the buffalos by thousands and how they
       pawed the prairie sod into dust with their hoofs,
       their great heads down pawing on in a great pageant
       of dusk,
Those who saw the buffalos are gone.
And the buffalos are gone."

With all due respect to Sandburg, one of the greatest of all poets, the buffalos are not gone. This photo was made on February 25, 2012 maybe three miles from the Meals on Wheels Mart in Cheyenne. There were at least a hundred buffalo, in this herd.

Poetry should not always be taken literally. I know what Sandburg meant.

David Sneed

Pardon Me For Asking

Here is a blog from New York City that is most interesting. What not think about a blog for your neighborhood? Can you think of why your Meals on Wheels Book Room is like the store in this photo and in the blog?

http://pardonmeforasking.blogspot.com/2012/02/smell-of-roasting-coffee-just-part-of.html

David Sneed

Access to Books

Books must be accessible.

At Meals on Wheels Cheyenne we have some interesting new shelf and table arrangements. Crockett did his magic with some shelves that were donated yesterday. Those shelves might not otherwise be sellable. We can get many more books in the same square footage and they are easier to access.

We have already done a quick run through and organized the books in a better way. There are some books with duplicate copies. We have put them together. Those titles are more visible and a buyer can choose which one to buy based on condition and type of binding.

There are a number of time management books in stock at present. We have placed them on a separate shelf above the dictionaries. Current leadership books are all in one place.

One goal is to have the nonfiction help books better organized for gardeners, home handymen, Bible students, job seekers, and those looking to start a business.

Fiction is still mostly all on the tables. Romance novels are in one place. When we get a number of books by a single author we often put them together on a shelf.

School room chairs are available for accessing lower shelves and for leisurely browsing.

There are some intangible features coming in the near future to accentuate book purchases.

David Sneed

Ernest Hemingway's boyhood home in Oak Park Illinois is for sale for $525,000. His family moved to the home in 1906 when he was 7. He spent some time there recuperating after World War I. The house is now a triplex.

Since the Meals on Wheels book room often has Hemingway books for sale it is good that we know something about him and to see that he lived in a house perhaps similar to what we might have.

David Sneed

Lots of Children's Books Are In

Plenty of children's books have come in from a defunct day care center. We have removed the ones that are torn and marked up. All books for sale are in good condition. Some of them are real oldies that are great stories. 

We also acquired a new shelf that helps to enclose the area a little more. 

David Sneed

Book Store Stories

When I was in high School and worked at McDonald's, back when the french fries and the hamburger patties were all fresh, back when it was a fast food restaurant with a 37 cent lunch, it was noticeable that people would always order the same items and quantities. I found it great fun and service to watch someone walk up to the window, say what they wanted, and I would hand it to them. Maybe the same thing is true with books though I am not at the Meals on Wheels Mart enough to know.

It is pleasing to see folks come in and get an arm load of books. Like anyone who has a big library and who loves books I know where every book is located. Wednesday is the first sale day of the week. I can come in late Wednesday afternoon and can tell which books went out. I can also tell which books did not go out. Over time I can tell which books never go out. Over time we are making sure that we put out the books that people do want. The answer is somewhat surprising and we do sell a diversity  of fiction and non-fiction.

David Sneed

I Wish I Was a Customer

I wish I was a customer. I'd be at the door at 10:00AM Wednesday. All kinds of good books have come in. And we did a lot of re-arranging.

Sometimes I think our customers do not have a sense of humor. I put all 43 books of humor on a separate table to see if they can go out.

Then we got in 23 V.C. Andrews books so we put them all together. I've never read his work but have seen plenty of his books. Or could it be "her?"

We kind of moved the history and biography books around. There are a lot of buyers of these type books.

Plenty of good book for starting a business.

The dictionaries sold well but more, of a specialized nature, have come in.

David Sneed
  

Special Donation Received

One donor has just given a large number of quality books, mostly non-fiction. There are a number of children's books included. There is history, business, self-help and religious. No textbooks.

These books will all be on the shelves when the store opens for the week on Wednesday February 15.

David Sneed

Book Store Cats

Independent bookstores are noted for having cats as mascots. The Meals on Wheels Cheyenne Book Room is no different. Next time you are in the store look up in the window and see our mascot. There is no name yet. Show your children and maybe they can associate a furry animal with books. They might become book lovers and not know why!

If you go to google and enter "bookstore cats" you will see plenty of photos and stories.

We do not have a copy but there is a book called "Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World." Dewey is from Spencer Iowa. See Dewey in the photo below.


Crockett gave us two really nice wooden tables for book display. The wooden tables, along with the carpet, and the "cat in the window" add some nice ambiance for book shoppers. The ambiance, the price of 50 cents for all books, and the knowledge that all of the proceeds go to make a difference for your friends, relatives, neighbors, and possibly you or me, now or at at some point, makes for real value in shopping for books at Meals on Wheels Cheyenne. To make the experience really complete we welcome your donations of books. If need be we will come with empty boxes and will pick them up. If you bring them and the store is open books can come in the front door.


David Sneed

A Plethora of Dictionaries

Yesterday a large number of dictionaries of all types came in, not just in English. We made a temporary section just for the new ones that came in and the ones we already had. I added a few other books that have a connection to dictionaries.

We also got in quite a few science fiction, healing and health of all kinds, cookbooks, classics, and culture. About a dozen coffee table type books were sent over to the boutique.

Everyone who comes in today is going to be quite pleased.

David Sneed

Words to the Yellow Rose of Texas

A book of Emily Dickens poetry came in last week. Have you ever read any of her work? Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was a most prolific poet. She was somewhat of a recluse. After returning home from college she rarely left the home of her well-to-do parents. At home she mostly stayed in her room. He social life was by correspondence.

Her 1,800 or so poems can be sung to the tune of Yellow Rose of Texas. Below is "Because I Could Not Stop for Death." Small children love to hear the tune and the words of her poetry even though they do not yet have the words in their vocabulary. The sounds are soothing. Sing away!

David Sneed

Because I could not stop for Death—
He kindly stopped for me—
The Carriage held but just Ourselves—
And Immortality.

We slowly drove—He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility—

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess—in the Ring—
We passed the fields of Gazing Grain—
We passed the Setting Sun—

Or rather—He passed Us—
The Dews drew quivering and chill—
For only Gossamer, my Gown—
My Tippet—only Tulle—

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground—
The Roof was scarcely visible—
The Cornice—in the Ground—

Since then—'tis Centuries—and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity—

Month End at Meals on Wheels Book Room

At month end we do the usual paperwork things of taking inventory, totaling hours worked, rearranging or whatever.

The mix of books keeps changing depending on who is donating what. Right now we have a noticeable quantity of business books, humor and classics.

One interesting book is the autobiography of Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935.) Gilman was a writer and lecturer. She was the great-niece of Henry Ward Beecher and his sister Harriett Beecher Stowe. As a writer she was perhaps best known as the the author of the Yellow Wallpaper. In that book, she mostly describes the bedroom. What is  most unique about the book is the viewpoint that she gives. It is as if she can see everything in the bedroom but the occupant cannot see her. The rest of the house almost becomes an attachment to the bedroom. She wrote the book in an objective way as if no one would be reading it. In fact she is bringing all of the readers into the bedroom.

There is a connection between Charlotte Perkins Gilman and a new way that the non-fiction books in your book room are arranged. There are the usual categories of subject such as business, self-help, crafts, health, cooking, animals and nature, sports, or whatever. You may notice some books in the subject area that, by the Dewey and other systems, would not be there. By looking ahead at what the readers of that category may be thinking we are adding books that will fit that type of thinking. It is as if an observer is in the book room that cannot be seen by the book buyer. Like in the bedroom of Gilman's book. The observer is saying "Oh you like x. You might like to read this book."

If you like what we are trying to do please say something. Likewise if you do not like it. I think people may actually do this with their own books.

David Sneed

Is Cheyenne's Hipster Bookstore at Meals on Wheels?

The term hipster has had a revival. It refers to people, generally in their 20s and 30s, who have adopted an independent free-thinking lifestyle. In Wyoming we might call them "New Cowboys." Hipsters are being sighted at Cheyenne Meals on Wheels Mart. The store is a good find for them. They like thrift store clothing. They like tight jeans and printed t-shirts. They like old style glasses of all kinds. They like art prints. They like books that can show them new ideas and irony. Hipsters love irony. They also love Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. Meals on Wheels does not sell beer yet it is close to the place that does.

Watch this video that can give you some more information about hipsters. Maybe you are one. Maybe I am one. Maybe we were hipsters before being a hipster become "cool" or "deck."

David Sneed

Comment from a reader. 


"I wish you well as an independent book seller.  I am a strong supporter of independent dealers and am committed to read books I can hold. "


When you buy a book from Meals on Wheels you are supporting real books. You are saying that you want books in print to be available.


David Sneed

10th President John Tyler Has Two Living Grandchildren

Here is something that could be found in a book at Meals on Wheels. A President who was born in 1790 has two living grandchildren. 

Thanks to one of our readers who pointed out the following. 

John Tyler, our 10th President, was born in 1790. He became the 10th president of the United States in 1841 after William Henry Harrison died in office. Tyler fathered Lyon Gardiner Tyler in 1853, at age 63.  Then, at the age of 71, Lyon Gardiner Tyler fathered Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr. in 1924 and four years later at age 75, Harrison Ruffin Tyler. Both men are still alive today.

That means just three generations of the Tyler family are spread out over more than 200 years. President Tyler was also a prolific father, having 15 children (8 boys and 7 girls) with two wives.

The next president who has a still living grandchild is James Garfield the 20th president, who took office forty years after Tyler.   

David Sneed

End of Clive Cussler Festival

The Clive Cussler Festival has ended. All of his books that we had put out are sold.

Of course more could come in this week.

At the entry of Jan 20 you can still see the Cussler videos.

David Sneed

How Frequently Do Books Sell at Meals on Wheels?

Based on numbers from 2011, a book sells every two minutes that the Cheyenne Meals on Wheels store in Cheyenne is open.
David Sneed

Types of Books and the Connection to Furniture

Every week is different at the Meals on Wheels Book Room in Cheyenne. Right now there are quite a few humor books as well as Smithsonian Magazines and Clive Cussler novels. Many magazines are not of any value to collectors. The internet has replaced them. For some reason Smithsonian is different.

Book stores and old furniture go together. I would much rather go to the Tattered Cover in Denver than to Barnes and Noble. Tattered Cover, like many similar book stores every where, has an old lived in experience. There are dark corners, old furniture and worn carpets. Barnes and Noble is like an airport newsstand with the high-priced coffee right inside. Book stores need a cat in the window. Can you imagine a cat in Barnes and Noble?

At Meals on Wheels there is always neat old furniture. If Wyoming gets a lottery and I win big, I will build a really big house and furnish it with old stuff from Meals on Wheels.

David Sneed

21st Century Illiterate

The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn." Alvin Toffler

Brattle Book Shop

The Brattle Book Shop in Boston is said to be the nation's oldest book store. It carries thousands of used books. Outside the shop in a vacant lot is where books are placed on tables for $5 each. This lot is the last stop before the land fill. The books did not sell in the store at higher prices and so, in unsorted fashion, are placed outside. 

The books are just like what is found on the shelves at Meal on Wheels in Cheyenne for 50 cents. Many are worn and ragged. Many are like new and maybe never read.

David Sneed

Clive Cussler Festival

How about a Clive Cussler Festival right here on the blog and at the store with available books. I have never read his books but am now inspired to do so.

What has happened is that today at Meals on Wheels Cheyenne quite a few Clive Cussler books came in, both hard-back and paper-back. So we took those and whatever others we already had and put them on a separate shelf all by themselves.

Cussler is a best-selling adventure novelist. When his books come in they always resell quickly. Here is a website for Clive Cussler books.
http://www.clive-cussler-books.com/

Here is a mock trailer for his book Inca Gold.



Got 72 minutes? Here is Clive Cussler speaking at the University of Oregon about writing adventure fiction.




Here is a short interview with Clive Cussler. 1:44.



There are so many good authors. And you can get the books for just 50 cents right in Cheyenne at the Meals on Wheels store.

David Sneed

Small Issues Yet Important

Crockett heard our wishes and was able to put carpet in the entire book display area. While looking at books customers can now have a quiet area to peruse the shelves. The chairs are there for those who would like to sit and look through shelves.

I have brought in more books from my library. donations have been a little,slow this month.

Have you got some books you can donate? We will come and get them.

David Sneed

Dictionaries

I got a request from one of the long time volunteers at Meals on Wheels Cheyenne for a dictionary. This lady is a retired school teacher and has been a volunteer for over 30 years.  

Some days the Meals on Wheels Book Room has dictionaries. Other days we do not. I went and found one paperback. I took it to her and asked if it would do temporarily. She said it would. I bought it for her.

To help fill the need I went back to my library at home and got her a thumb-tabbed, leather bound,Webster's New World Dictionary, College Edition.

If someone has a use for a certain book, it is my job to try and find them one.

David Sneed

What You Get When You Buy A Book

Lord! when you sell a man a book you don't sell just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life.  Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night - there's all heaven and earth in a book, a real book.  ~Christopher Morley

Try Doing This With a Digital Book

A book reads the better which is our own, and has been so long known to us, that we know the topography of its blots, and dog's ears, and can trace the dirt in it to having read it at tea with buttered muffins.  ~Charles Lamb, Last Essays of Elia, 1833

Are Books Going Away?

There are many articles about how books are on their way out. There is an interesting article in the Atlantic by Peter Osnos that shows that there are changes in how books are read, written, produced and promoted. Nothing about books going away.

Good books in print form will always be around. They have flexibility that digital books do not have.

1. They do not require power.
2. They are ready right now to use.
3. They can be moved and rearranged. Everyone with a library at home or office knows that they can readily find a book they need.
4. Real bookmarks can be used. Note that the digital folks use the same term "bookmark."
5. They can sit on your desktop and easily accessed.
6. It is easy with a book to go back or forward.
7. Books are easily transferable in ways that cannot be done easily with digital formats. They can be put on a shelf in a book store or distributed on-line. There are no special media and no special process to make them readable.

To help preserve the concepts of books, those of us in the book business, and that includes  Meals on Wheels Cheyenne like to make books available at a low price. We try to keep a fresh selection of books in good condition. We also ask folks who have books they no longer need to bring them in so we can make them available to others.

David Sneed

First Week of 2012

We got some nice donations this week with a variety of subjects. It was a nice start for the year.

Sometimes we have a period of mostly one type or another.

We would like to have a carpet for the book display area. If you have one you don't need please bring it by or we will come and get it. I haven't measured but  the area is about 24x12. We can piece together whatever we get.

David Sneed

First sale day of 2012

Today was the first sale day of 2012. A number of books were sold including some large art books in the boutique section.

There was a request from a dealer who wanted to pay double and be able to scan bar codes before the books were put out. There are thrift stores that allow that. We did not agree to that request. It would delay getting books out on the shelves as the dealer could not come in every day several times a day.

We do need book donations. December was slow because there were a number of days when donations could not be made. So inventory is lower than we might like.

David Sneed

Who Makes Books?

Many people, other than the authors, contribute to the making of a book, from the first person who had the bright idea of alphabetic writing through the inventor of movable type to the lumberjacks who felled the trees that were pulped for its printing.  It is not customary to acknowledge the trees themselves, though their commitment is total.  ~Forsyth and Rada, Machine Learning


I think that for a book to be complete there must be those who distribute the books and those who read them and apply the thoughts and facts. Otherwise the books are just another form of tree pulp. A book is a type of seed. The readers are a type of farmer. 


David Sneed

The Smallest Bookstore

"The smallest bookstore still contains more ideas of worth than have been presented in the entire history of television."  ~Andrew Ross


As a few examples from what is currently available just at Meals on Wheels:

• Someone who is unemployed can find ideas for starting a needed business. There are many books giving how-to information. 
• There are several shelves of classics. These books can inspire new thoughts. 
• There are biographies and autobiographies to see how others have lived. 
• There are many entertaining novels of all types. 
• There are language and travel books. 

David Sneed