Celebrating the first World Book Night in the United States on Monday, two Penn State Schuylkill English instructors brought armfuls of books to Schuylkill Women In Crisis in Pottsville.
Dr. Doranne G. Polcrack and Bim Angst were able to acquire 20 free copies of the novel "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, through the newly-formed World Book Night U.S., a nonprofit charitable organization supported by American book publishers and other literary organizations.
"It's kind of cool," Polcrack said, summing up the program in a beat.
"Literature is so important and the arts are a way that all of us can expand our horizons. And for victims of domestic violence, to have the opportunity to read 'The Kite Runner,' which has a lot of relevance to their situation, that's a great opportunity," said Sarah T. "Sally" Casey, SWIC executive director.
World Book Night is an annual celebration designed to spread a love of reading and books. It was held in the U.S. as well as the U.K. and Ireland on Monday.
Thousands of people participated, going out into their communities to spread the joy and love of reading by giving out free World Book Night paperbacks, provided to the program by publishers, according to us.worldbooknight.org
"World Book Night books are specially-produced, not-for-resale paperbacks. Book givers will receive 20 copies of the same book, a book they love from the list of 30 picks," according to us.worldbooknight.org
Polcrack applied for the books through the website and chose "The Kite Runner" for a few reasons.
"I learned about this because I'm on a mailing list from a book store near Pittsburgh, Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont. The idea was people would volunteer to give these free books out to places where books are in short supply or where people were not frequent readers but could be encouraged to read," Polcrack said.
So Polcrack visited the website, learned the program was coming to the United States this year and put in an application to participate.
"When I went to the website in late January, they said they had like a million books donated by publishers and two dozen different titles. And they were looking for proposals, asking people to submit suggestions on where to donate them," Polcrack said.
She and Angst chose "The Kite Runner" and suggested copies should be given to Schuylkill Women In Crisis in Pottsville.
"The Kite Runner" tells the story of Amir, a young boy from a wealthy family, whose closest friend is Hassan, his father's young servant. The story is set against a backdrop of tumultuous events, from the fall of Afghanistan's monarchy through the Soviet invasion, the exodus of refugees to Pakistan and the United States, and the rise of the Taliban empire. "We wanted to find a book that was family-friendly, figuring a lot of the residents at the Women In Crisis shelter had children. And we wanted to find a book that teenagers could engage in and read on their own and something that mothers could read aloud to their children," Polcrack said.
Polcrack said there's a lot to like about the program.
"Anyone can put in a proposal. I like the idea of making books available in situations where books might always be available. I like the idea of encouraging people to read," Polcrack said.
