Okay – it’s 8 am on Tuesday, and you wish you had a mystery you haven’t already read to take on the bus to Boston, or to that appointment with the long and boring wait, but the bookstores and the library aren’t open yet.
What to do? The answer is right in the neighborhood. Hoof it on over to Reiche, head up the ramp to the Book Nook, and browse an ever-changing selection of a couple hundred mysteries.
On your way down the shelves to the mysteries, you might even find yourself distracted by John Stewart’s America: Democracy Inaction, or Michael Lewis’s Liar’s Poker or Moneyball. Highbrow, lowbrow – non-fiction, self-help – kids’ books! The Book Nook has a surprisingly good selection of all these, and they’re free!
Monday through Thursday, 8 to 10 a.m., volunteers staff the Book Nook, where books are free for the taking, to return if you wish, or pass along to a friend.
The Portland Public Library staff and West End neighbors help to supply the well-organized little library with donated books. No library card is required, but if you have one, you can use it to request books from the PPL’s on-line service, and have your selection sent to the Reiche Book Nook for pickup there. Save a trip downtown!
The Reiche Book Nook is part of the Portland Public Library’s City of Readers program, and is made possible in a partnership with Portland Recreation and the West End Neighborhood Association. Check it out!
-Pat Garrett, Book Nook volunteer
