The challenges that accompany living on the streets aren’t limited to finding a safe place to sleep at night or securing enough food to survive. In addition to maintaining personal hygiene, it can be an incomparable task to receive a library card if one doesn’t have a permanent address or the necessary identification documents.
Particularly focused on the last challenge, Laura Moulton, a writing professor, decided to found a library on wheels that delivers books to underserved populations in Portland, Oregon.
NationSwell relays that for the past five years, Moulton has been delivering books to 5,000 homeless patrons in the area. As is relayed in the video below, all genres of books are offered, and the Street Books project often stimulates conversation on a wide variety of topics – including Chomsky.
Says Moulton:
“Being recognized and spoken to on the street and offered a book for someone who has really been struggling can be a really powerful thing. Books have the power to have us feel empathy and have us experience the thrill of a journey of someone else”.
Though the project has received grants, most of the support has come from people who are inspired by her activism. You can learn more by viewing the video above and visiting the Street Books website.
What are your thoughts? Please comment below and share this news!
This article (Every Week, This Literature Professor Bikes Books To 5,000 Homeless People [Watch]) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and TrueActivist.com
