The Reading Rag

The

Reading Rag Spring 2022

What are

YA Reading?

Turning the Page on

Book Waste A Pleasure to

Burn

Owning the World of

Books

The Reading Rag Howdy readers!

Thank you for opening up our magazine! In this “all things book’’ issue, you will find several unique feature stories and infographics covering topics such as book censorship, the writing process of YA novels, local Texas bookstores, and programs fighting book waste.

Creating this magazine has been a long and complicated process; some of the main steps involved included getting interviews, writing out a feature story, and making infographics filled with data. We dedicated lots of time to get all of our interviews and write these stories so we hope you appreciate them.

We also have many graphics and images that we designed ourselves, from the top ten banned reads that are worth it, to the genres that are spreading in popularity among young adults. These are definitely worth checking out, especially if you want to gain a little knowledge about book trivia.

We hope this magazine will teach you something new about the wonderful world of books, whether it be what local bookstores to put on your next trip, or how you can help promote sustainable book use. We are very proud of the way it turned out, and hope you feel the same!

Enjoy!

Zoe Cannon Mary Woolsey Caleb Muckerheide Mairin Bachschmid Photo by Ivette Guerra, graphic by Caleb Muckerheide

Table of Contents Meet the Editors Pg. 3-4

Owning the World of Books

By Mary Woolsey Pg. 5-8

Banned and Burning

By Mary Woolsey Pg. 9-10

A Pleasure to Burn

By Caleb Muckerheide Pg. 11-14

1 Spring . 2022

Saving Stories

By Caleb Muckerheide Pg. 15-16

Stepping Into the World of YA What are YA Reading?

By Mairin Bachschmid Pg. 17-20

By Mairin Bachschmid Pg. 21-22

Turning the Page on Book Waste To Read or Not To Read

By Zoe Cannon Pg. 27-28

By Zoe Cannon Pg. 23-26

Be sure to check out our book recommendations in the back of the magazine! Thanks!

Spring . 2022 2

MEET THE Mary Woolsey is a future author and current LASA freshman. She enjoys reading for fun, swimming (but not in the morning or the winter), and contemplating life in her bed with her cat. For our ezine, she plans to write about small bookstore owners and why they chose to open a bookstore in the tech based world of Austin.

A fun fact about Mary is that she has a certain affinity for washing machines, ducks, and eating cake.

Caleb Muckerheide is a freshman at LASA high school.

He loves reading, sometimes devouring over 1,000 pages in a week. Currently in a boy scout troop, he also enjoys helping the community and learning. He wants to write about controversial books, how different districts and areas ban certain books, and the effect it has on us. After Caleb graduates, he hopes to pursue a career in structural engineering. His name, Hebrew in origin, roughly translates to “loyal” or “dog,” leading him to try and enjoy dog food (if seasoned properly).

3 Spring . 2022

EDITORS Mairin Bachschmid, a LASA freshman, is a resident YA specialist, typically digging deeper into how various authors create the novels loved by teens around the world. She enjoys reading every day, and her favorite genre is fantasy. She is on LASA’s stellar track team and secretly has a black belt in Ba Ki Do, making her a very competitive person. For a future career, she plans to either continue working with magazines or pursue “Mairin” biology.

Zoe Cannon, creator of beloved cat comics at the age of 8, is a freshman at LASA. She loves the team sport lacrosse and reads in her free time to learn about other worlds, cultures, and people. Zoe is interested in programs that reuse, recycle, and donate books, and whether movie adaptations or the original paper copies are better. So that’s what her feature story and infographic will be covering. After completing this magazine and graduating from high school, she plans to study animal behavior.

Spring . 2022 4

Owning the World of Books

By Mary Woolsey

T

he feeling of walking into a new bookstore can be surreal. The

unpredictable shelving of books and the feeling of holding the smooth, bound paper in your hands, and the joy of finding a new favorite.

Bookstores are places that have been around a while and it doesn’t seem they’ll go away soon.

Although some were skeptical of their success because of the rise of Amazon and e-books, they’re still standing strong.

However, they can be risky businesses, so opening one is a gamble. Susan Post, owner of the feminist bookstore BookWoman, has a reason to why she opened hers.

“In 1975, you couldn’t find many books written by women, especially if you were shopping in Texas,” said Post.

The bookstore was originally a collective called The Common Woman Bookstore. Post explained that the store, first created by thirteen women, was started to help reach women and make women’s

5 Spring . 2022

Susan Post, owner of BookWoman, carefully stacks preorders. Local bookstores take care to give excellent customer service. Photo by Mary Woolsey.

fiction more accessible. Before the bookstore was opened, there weren’t many places where girls and women could explore fiction – Post and her colleagues wanted to change that.

“From the beginning of the feminist bookstore movement, we’ve always wanted to represent marginalized groups,” said Post.

In BookWoman, you can find pockets of literature on LGBTQIA+, people of color, and of course, woman empowerment and feminism.

Feminist bookstores like Post’s are now in low numbers, where there were once over a hundred. Most people don’t come to a feminist bookstore, or are intimidated by it. Many might think a feminist bookstore is too specific of a place, something that doesn’t apply to everyone, but Post disagrees.

“Feminism always has wanted to elevate everyone - feminism doesn’t just apply to women,” Post said.

One of the main purposes of indie bookstores is to elevate everyone, Post explained. Whether it be quiet people who just want a nook, or a struggling author who hasn’t been discovered yet, indie bookstores provide comfort and escapism, according to Jenny Lawson, owner of Nowhere Bookshop.

“I’ve always loved bookstores and libraries because they’re safe spaces for introverts to discover new worlds,” Lawson said.

Lawson’s goal when opening Nowhere Bookshop was to make that safe space accessible to the community. She said that stories were a large part of her childhood, and she wanted to give that lovely feeling of getting lost in a book to anyone who wants it.

“I don’t think anyone opens an indie bookstore to make money,”

“I don’t think anyone opens an indie bookshop to make money... it’s more a labor of love.”

-Jenny Lawson, owner of The Nowhere Bookshop.

Photo courtesy of Pxhere “We thought we found our rhythm, and then Delta came,” Bratcher said.

“We thought we found our rhythm, and then Omicron came. And now we’re trying to find our rhythm again, and I hope nothing else is coming.”

Lots of stores had to shut down during the early months of that pandemic, but Bratcher’s bookstore has had a rockier experience than most. Closing a place that relies on an in-person presence, on looking around and holding physical copies of carefully-chosen books, is crushing to that store. When Indie bookstores like this close, people find it much easier to just buy from

Lawson said. “It’s more a labor of love.”

Indie bookstores have always had struggles, but when Covid came, it got much more severe.

Joe Bratcher, the owner of Malvern Books, has had his own share of these struggles.

Photo courtesy of LoneStarMike

Spring . 2022 6

Photo by Alexandre Duret-Lutz an online seller like Amazon or a larger commercial bookseller.

Since most small bookstores didn’t have an online presence before the pandemic, regaining business was difficult.

However, these owners try to cater to the cozier aspects of business that online sellers often miss, setting their store apart.

“I want it to be a safe, strange, and wonderful sort of place where everyone feels welcome,” Lawson said. “I think we’re getting there.”

She said it’s one of her favorite things when people tell her Nowhere Bookshop is their favorite place to be.

Success is hard to come by with small stores such as these, but Lawson continues to prove that it’s

7 Spring . 2022

completely possible.

Bratcher said that when opening a successful bookstore, it’s important to find a niche. Whether that be an escape, as Lawson has, or an inclusive haven like Post, finding something specific that people can enjoy and come back to is important. Finding this “niche” can help the community, because it adds a vital piece to it that wasn’t there before. Anyone can go to Barnes and Noble, but places like Malvern books with its pockets of undiscovered literature, or BookWoman with its dedication and inclusivity are hard to find.

“Before the pandemic hit, we were just doing great,” Bratcher said.

“I was very excited about where I was. I hope to bring that back.”

Malvern Books is a young bookstore, so something like Covid can easily hurt it. But Bratcher still has hope for the future, and the people that love his store do too. Other bookstores, like BookWoman, have been here for the long haul. Fourteen years ago, when BookWoman had to move locations due to deep debt, the community poured in with help and support.

“The community came together to ensure we survived,” Post said.

She said that people pledged fundraising, donated, and pledged to buy books.

Post said that people have told her she has a big personality, but according to her, she’s most comfortable behind a desk, working and helping. And

helped she has; she goes to many conferences about things like domestic abuse and battering, crimes against children, and crimes against women. For each one she spends days researching the best books to take to that specific conference, and then she goes and provides those resources to people who might not have had them any other way.

“I’m very proud that the store is considered iconic, that I’m considered a pillar of the community,” Post said.

Each of these owners has proved

that owning a bookstore can be strenuous. However, it can turn out to be the best decision if you really want it.

Lawson said anyone starting their own bookstore should consider how much they want to run a business.

continue to add to the community.

“I know how bookstores can help to open the minds of people,” said Lawson. “I feel so privileged to be able to help get those books into the right hands.”

“I’d say to go for it,” Lawson said.

“Be aware that it’s harder than you think, but also more rewarding than you think.”

Lawson, Post, and Bratcher have all persevered through an incredibly tough time for entrepreneurs, and they still

Graphic by Mary Woolsey

Spring . 2022 8

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

3

4

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

9 Spring . 2022

2

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

1

1984 by George Orwell

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Banned and Burning

A look through ten famously controversial books that are worth the read

Graphics by Mary Woolsey

5

Sherman Alexie’s book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian shows Junior’s life and experience in high school, on the reservation, and growing up. Junior’s story is real and funny, and this book is worth picking up.

nhe Fahre

it

bury d a r Ray B y b 451

9 10

nolds y e R n o s ys by Ja o B n a c i r All Ame n Kiely da and Bren

8 Anne Frank: DIary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Looking for Alaska by John Green

GEORGE by ALex Gino

6 7

GEORGE is a children’s book about a transgender girl named Melissa.

This book is a great read, because it teaches children that everyone deserves equality and happiness.

Spring . 2022 10

A Pleasure to Burn The controversy surrounding book reviews in Leander

By Caleb Muckerheide

The outskirts of Leander. Courtesy of Arturo Yee.

cross the country, there have been increasing waves of legislation and protests about the content in school libraries, with over 300 “book challenges” in 2021 alone.

A

These waves crashed over Leander, Texas, in December 2021, as 11 books were removed from classrooms in the district for reasons ranging from graphic sexual content to “negative portrayal of men.”

As part of their ELA course, Leander students divided into book clubs of three to four people and chose a book to read and discuss

11 Spring . 2022

from a list. This list came under fire as early as February 2021, when parents made impassioned speeches at board meetings against the content of the books on it.

In response, the Leander Independent School District (LISD) formed the Community Curriculum Advisory Committee, a group of parents and faculty, to review the more than 100 titles available to book clubs. The review criteria included diversity, reading level, and graphic content.

Some members of the community, like Leander parent Shawna Peterson, were concerned about the lack of clarity around what their children were reading in the book clubs.

“That is one of the major frustrations, you know, we care about our kids, so we want to know what’s going on,” Peterson said. “We trust the teachers, we trust the board, but our primary job as parents is to protect our kids, and I want to know what my kids are reading and discussing in small groups. I think it’s reasonable for us to be aware of what books they’re selecting and have an input in that.”

Others protested that the book review process itself was inconsistent and unclear. For example, books like In the Dream House and Red at the Bone that had ratings as high as 88% of people voting to keep them were removed, while other books with lower approval were

Many people were concerned that the book review was the latest in a series of impositions by authorities.

Leander Library coordinator Becky Calzada argued that removing these titles from the book clubs could be considered unconstitutional.

“A parent’s ability to exercise control over reading extends to only his or her own child. The removal of books has First Amendment implications,” said Calzada, referencing the Supreme Court case Board of Education v. Pico.

In that case, Justice Brennan ruled that “the right to receive ideas is a necessary predicate to the recipient’s meaningful exercise of his own rights of speech, press, and political freedom.”

LISD’s primary role in this process and as a school district is to be responsive to the needs of parents and students, according to Mitchell.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, challenged at LISD. Photo by Caleb Muckerheide.

kept in classrooms.

“We’ve made clear communication a priority from the beginning of the selection review process,” said Matt Michell, representative of LISD. “We’ve engaged district staff and families to ask for volunteers to help, including direct emails, web stories, social media posts, and videos.”

Peterson feels that the objections around removing books are being exaggerated by current events.

“There are a lot of issues right now politically, and with COVID and masking, there’s just so many things, people are starting to feel like some people are overreaching, and then we start having conflict,” Peterson said. “Honestly, most parents affected by these so-called book bans really, when you get to the heart of the matter, probably wouldn’t want their kids reading or being immersed in these books, not the topics themselves, but these graphic descriptions,” she said.

“Any time there is a concern from parents about material offered in our schools, our teachers and staff make every effort to listen, engage and provide flexibility where necessary,” Mitchell said. “The goal is always encouraging independent reading by offering choices encompassing a variety of topics, voices and cultures.”

Regrets about the book clubs aside, Calzada offers an alternative solution for students looking to gain access to a broader range of material.

“We’ve not had any books removed

Spring . 2022 12

Banned Books Week in San Jose. Courtesy of San Jose Public Library. from our school libraries; while it’s as adults…How are we going to not ideal to see books removed, I expect these kids on their own to see my role as one to highlight and navigate through these issues too?” remind others of the purpose of the school library,” said Calzada.

In Peterson’s opinion, Leander is justified in the way they handled the book review process.

“Of course all of these topics are very important to discuss and relevant to our culture,” Peterson said, “but I think the way that it’s happening in small groups in the school without any kind of parental involvement or teacher involvement, any kind of adults, to help navigate these difficult topics that are hard for us to wrestle with

13 Spring . 2022

“There’s just so many things, people are starting to feel like some people are overreaching, and then we start having conflict.”

-Shawna Peterson, Leander parent

Spring . 2022 14

1.

1,000,000

Saving S

Almost new books are published in the U.S. every year.

How program Reads ke out of th

4.

Recycled Reads then resells their books at cost, usually

under $2. This

prolongs their lifespan, letting everyone enjoy more reading for less.

15 Spring . 2022

Graphics by Cale

Stories 2 .

640,000 tons of books are sent to a landfill annually.

Austin m Recycled eeps books he landfill.

eb Muckerheide

3.

But Recycled Reads accepts packaged donations of all printed material except magazines. As of February 2022, they have diverted

4,320 tons

over of material.

Source: Recycled Reads Graphics by Caleb Muckerheide Spring . 2022 16

Courtesy of Rubin Starset.

The Young Adult section of a local Barnes and Noble in south Austin. YA novels are increasing in popularity around the world. Courtesy of Fastily.

Stepping Into an Author’s Mind Analyzing the steps and processes authors use to craft a young adult novel

By Mairin Bachschmid

17 Spring . 2022

journal flips open, and a sharpened pencil meets the crisp sheets of paper beneath.

Words tumble out of the writer’s mind to form the common novels young adults read day after day.

A

Young Adult novels cover a wide range of topics and genres, and are geared toward teen readers. They have grown to become extremely popular over the years. There are many steps that it takes to write a YA novel, and only some books end up becoming famous and read by people globally.

Authors often find inspiration to begin a story by participating in activities that they enjoy, according to Jennifer Hritz, author and founder of Young Writers Austin, a writing program for teen girls. She is especially able to come up with story concepts when doing some sort of physical activity.

“Sometimes, I’ll have fully formed phrases, sentences, or even whole scenes drop in when I am active and moving,” Hritz said.

Writing down notes and ideas about different parts of the world building process and characters is a tool authors use to begin connecting the rules present in their stories, according to YA author, Susan Michalski.

“The way I start building the world is journaling,” Michalski said. “I just started living in their head, thinking about their world, and journaling as though I was that character.”

However, authors don’t always know how to expand on their character, so they can have other methods of releasing their creativity. A strategy Hritz learned

“It is the best thing in the world to always have stories in my head. I don’t understand what people think about if they don’t.” ~ Jennifer Hritz, Founder of Young Writers Austin

from Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way, is to journal every morning.

“Our minds are so cluttered that we’re not thinking about the characters,” Hritz said. “If you take that time in the morning to have a mind dump, then the creativity is more easily accessible.”

The characters are often the part

of the story most authors focus on first. Characters are the focal point of a novel, and can often drive the rest of the story. According to Hritz, if an author takes a break from judging the work, the characters will help move the story along.

“If you can just set that aside and give your character the space to speak,” Hritz said, “that’s when the magic happens.”

Different authors have their own methods to build up a character, but Michalski often focuses on one specific trait when designing characters for her YA novels.

“Every character that I love in literature starts with a quirk,” Michalski said.

“There is something weird about that character. There’s something unique and strange.”

This specific trait can help authors build up a character.

Authors and editors like Britta Jensen, YA author and editor at the Writing Conservancy, make sure that a character branches off from this original idea, and can form into someone relatable.

“I’m looking at the consistency of the point of view and the voice because it helps the reader feel attached to the story,” Jensen said.

“I am also looking at how deep you are going with your character.”

Not only does the character’s role need to be clear, but their actions need to blend with the way the

Spring . 2022 18

world is set up. Britta Jensen often applied this to her novels, including Eloia Born and Hirana’s War, which are primarily science fiction.

“Particularly for high fantasy and science fiction… you have to make sure the world is clear,” Jensen said, “but not so heavy where you can’t get into the story itself.”

Sometimes, authors choose to look for broader themes to add into their books. Jennifer Hritz likes to include these aspects into her world building process.

“I am looking for something that is deeper and harder,” Hritz said.

“Love and betrayal, memory, how we navigate relationships, how we

Courtesy of Starkenken.

19 Spring . 2022

Margaret Rogerson attends BookCon on June 2, 2019. BookCon is an annual event celebrating YA novels and authors. Courtesy of Rhododendrites. navigate being human, and what our relationship is to each other.”

also put different traits in some of their side characters as well.

Even once the world is completely planned, authors can’t include all the little details.

They instead focus on the primary aspects and ensure they make sense together.

“Characters, I would say, are definitely parts of me,” Michalski said. “I guess it’s another way to think about it. We’re not all masculine, or all feminine. We’re all bits and pieces.”

“You can’t give all the details in the timeline of the story because that would be too long,”Jensen said. “You have to skip to the most important parts.”

Real life experiences can also be used for ideas in a novel.

Emotional experiences, like romance, can often be referenced in YA books, and are sometimes based on what that experience would be like in the real world.

When writing novels, authors get the chance to build a new world different from the one they live in.

According to Michalski, her novels Stellar Navigation and Safe Distances include a main character that contains a lot of her personality. However, authors can

“Watching teenagers fall in love and getting their hearts broken… definitely helps in the romance,” Jensen said. “I bring in elements of my own dating, age them down, and insert them into the manuscript.”

While elements from an author’s personal life can be helpful when coming up with ideas, they will often do research to base some concepts on fact. Britta Jensen chose to center one of her novels on a divided society, and she took life experiences from Senegal, Africa, to inspire that. Susan Michalski researched science fiction concepts she planned to include.

Revision is a very important step, which is why Hritz often focuses on constructive criticism when working with students in her program.

“I did a lot of research on string theory, and the ideas behind it,” Michalski said. “For the other book, which is based a lot on people who had trauma when they were children, I worked with a child psychologist.”

When meeting strict deadlines, authors can sometimes be pressured. Jensen explains that it is important to appreciate the work done and be able to know when it

Once authors come up with all the big concepts, they need to connect the details in their writing.

Graphic by Mairin Bachschmid.

“After I have all the little pieces and parts, I have to go and put it all together and fill in the blanks,” Michalski said. “That happens organically during the writing, and more carefully during the revision process.”

Once the editing process begins, authors work through what they have written to find issues with their writing. According to Britta Jensen, editors focus on teaching skills like character development and point of view to authors with less experience in those fields, as well as working on production of a book. It is different for an author.

“When you are editing your own work,” Jensen said, “you are having to provide the solutions to yourself as well as the problems.”

“You pour your heart into something, and it’s just eviscerated,” Hritz said. “When you’re new at writing, it can be difficult to have your work slaughtered.”

is getting to be too much.

“You have to have boundaries of what you can and can’t do,” Jensen said. “I know my worth as an author is not because of how many books I’ve sold. [It] is still valid even if I am not famous.”

Authors also try to network with other writers, which can help increase an author’s skills and allow them to pick up new ideas and critiques. According to Hritz, this is a good way to join the

writing community.

“If you’re interested in writing,” Hritz said, “hang out with other writers and always try to surround yourself with people who are going to accept you for who you are.”

Authors don’t generally make much from selling their books, and many writers, including Britta Jensen, have separate jobs to earn more money. However, hundreds of people around the world are still pursuing writing as a career.

“It is important to not listen to people that tell you you can’t make a living doing it,” Jensen said. “If you really love it, you’re going to figure it out.”

Both Jensen and Michalski are in the process of writing new novels, and the release date has yet to be announced. Jensen’s books Eloia Born and Hirana’s War, as well as Michalski’s books Stellar Navigation and Safe Distances are available for purchase. On the other end, Hritz continues to run programs including writing camps for teen girls through Young Writers Austin, as well as sessions with individual students of all genders.

“It is the best thing in the world to always have stories in my head,” Hritz said. “I don’t understand what people think about if they don’t.”

Spring . 2022 20

What are YA Reading Looking into the most popular genres and novels

What is Your Favorite Genre?

Graphics By Mairin Bachschmid

21 Spring . 2022

Drama/Romance Comedy Horror Fantasy Sci-Fi

Action/Adventure Mystery

Genres focus on different characteristics found in books. For example, fantasy focuses more on the impossible, while sci-fi is futuristic. Mystery involves crimes and problem solving, while horror is usually paranormal, suspenseful, or fearful in some way.

64 local Austin students were polled about their favorite genres and novels, and the results of the novel choices matched up with the number of copies sold.

#9

#10 A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder

#8

The Cruel Prince

#7

Six of Crows

#6

The 5th Wave

Mistborn

#5

The Lovely Bones

#4

Book Thief

#3

The Hunger Games

#2

Game of Thrones

Harry Potter

Top 10 YA Novels

#1

Harry Potter

By JK Rowling 500 Million Copies Sold

Game of Thrones

By George R. R. Martin 90 Million Copies Sold

Mistborn

By Brandon Sanderson 7 Million Copies Sold

Six of Crows

By Leigh Bardugo 2.5 Million Copies Sold

The Hunger Games

By Suzanne Collins 65 Million Copies Sold

The Lovely Bones

By Alice Sebold 5 Million Copies Sold

The Cruel Prince

By Holly Black 2.5 Million Copies Sold

Book Thief

By Markus Zusak 16 Million Copies Sold

The 5th Wave

By Rick Yancey 3.6 Million Copies Sold

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder

By Holly Jackson 1 Million Copies Sold

Spring . 2022 22

Turning the Page on

Book Waste The programs working to reuse and redirect reading materials

By Zoe Cannon

Every year, a staggering number of books are dumped in landfills around the world, wasting millions of trees, creating a large carbon footprint, and squandering reading materials that could be used elsewhere.

There are several programs and people working to change this today. These programs include the international nonprofit, Books for Africa, the Austin bookstore Recycled Reads, and community members using Little Free Libraries, which are small structures filled with books that people leave in their yards with a take a book, leave a book policy.

All of these non-profits and people work to divert books from landfills while providing books to people who need them, according to Chelsea Rosendale, administrative

E

23 Spring . 2022

and database specialist at Books for Africa.

“We believe access to books is a key building block in creating a culture of literacy,” Rosendale said. “Children who learn to read well and early tend to have more opportunities for academic and professional success.”

This is why Books for Africa works to provide as many books as possible for communities and schools in Africa, but in a sustainable way, she explained.

“We never purchase books, but we do sometimes conduct outreach to look for more donations.”

Rosendale said.

According to Rosendale, the books that Books for Africa provides are greatly appreciated and used for many different things.“[Recipients are] often using them for reading

A Guide to Learning French

The Great Gatsby

Mystery in the Manor

Graphics by Zoe Cannon competitions, to start book clubs, or to take home during school closures over the past couple of years,” Rosendale said. “Our feedback tends to be overwhelmingly good, with recipients reporting that the books are high-quality and useful.”

On the other side of the world in Austin, Recycled Reads works to accomplish a similar mission.

Paola Ferate-Soto, an employee

A class of kindergardeners hold up their new books received from Books for Africa during the 2021 Ghana/Moneygram book distrubution. The program takes donated books and uses them to spread literacy in Africa. Photo courtesy of Books for Africa at Recycled Reads, explained that the store takes in donated and discarded library books and sells them at reduced prices. The ones that can’t be sold are then sent to Goodwill to be recycled.

“One of the reasons why Recycled Reads was founded was to help the library process the materials that they could no longer use,” FerateSoto said.

To process all the materials the store receives, the employees must categorize the books and other media. Whether or not the books are sent to Goodwill or sold in the store is determined by many factors. “That is determined by the condition of the materials and by the age of the materials. Whether or not they’ve been checked out for that period of time will determine the public interest in the materials…We look at the material and see if it’s in good condition.

If it is, then we put them on the carts and shelve them. If the material has a lot of stains or ripped pages, then it gets sent to Goodwill,” Ferate-Soto said. “A few materials that we don’t process here are the mass paperbacks. If it is over three years old, we don’t sell them because we don’t want to sell inaccurate information.”

The program employs different means to deal with their many leftover materials, including art projects that the store used to do.

“Sometimes we repurpose the books. We haven’t been able to have programs in a long time, but when we did have programs, we did paper art.” Ferate-Soto said.

When asked about sustainability, Ferate-Soto said, “That’s one of the goals and that is why we are here. We don’t make money, we’re not money-making, we

Paola Ferate-Soto smiles in front of bookshelf at Recycled Reads.

The Austin store sells old library books and donations at a reduced price. Photo by Zoe Cannon

Spring . 2022 24

condition…They are not being put in the landfill because of the process that Goodwill

Ferate-Soto said. “In seven years we processed over 2000 tons! But we’ve been around for 12 years now!”

“We are always seeking to expand and we tend to ship more books every year. Our target this year is 3.2 million and we hope to see steady growth moving forward!”

Lauree’s Little Free LIbrary in Austin Photo courtesy of Lauree Bramwell don’t pay for our salaries.”

According to Ferate-Soto, all of the books sold at Recycled Reads are affordable. “Adult books are $2 or $1 if they’re paperbacks. And if you were to buy a young adult book it is 50 cents,” Ferate-Soto explained. “Many of them are in pristine condition, and what beats getting books at $1?”

Not all of the books donated are in good condition, though.

“Even though we asked [our donors] not to bring us anything that is stained or moldy or has critters in it, they bring them in, and so we have to discard those things,” Ferate-Soto said, “even if we cannot put them in [our store] because the material is not in good

25 Spring . 2022

Chelsea Rosendale, administrative and database specialist at Books for Africa

has to help reintegrate them into the planet in a healthy way.”

Despite the growth of these programs, they still face some problems. At Recycled Reads, the issue is finding the right customers for all the books they get.

Additionally, both programs process a very large number of books every year. Books for Africa is even looking to grow their “One of the challenges we have operations so they can reach even is when we get donations, like a more people in Africa. beautiful donation of Vietnamese books, but we don’t really have “We are always seeking to expand very many Vietnamese people and we tend to ship more books that visit us. And so you know, every year. Our target this year it’s getting the word out to the is 3.2 million and we hope to see right community that we have this steady growth moving forward!” material for them,” Ferate-Soto Rosendale said. said.

Recycled Reads also deals with a huge amount of books that come in While at Books for Africa, the from donations or the library. hurdles are more about finding the “We may send between 20 to 30 right books for all the receivers. tons every week to Goodwill,“

“It is sometimes difficult for us to meet the demand of our recipients,“ Rosendale said. “The books most in need are probably STEM books (science, technology, engineering, and math) for all levels, textbooks, and reference books. We do get a lot of novels and leisure reading books, so we are able to meet demand in that category, but STEM books are harder to come by.”

Despite these challenges, both programs find their work to be extremely rewarding and worthwhile. Fortunately, anyone can help redirect and reuse books like these non profits.

Austinite Lauree Bramwell, owns a registered Little Free Library and uses it to provide books to members of her neighborhood.

“It is an opportunity to ‘pay it forward’ and provide a service to my community,” Bramwell said.

She first installed her Little Free LIbrary in January of 2020, but the pandemic soon hit and people were reluctant to use it.

“Everyone was afraid to touch anything in the early days of the pandemic,” Bramwell said, “so I had a sign in the library stating it was sanitized daily-which it was!

Visitors have increased over time and after two years, people stop regularly when out walking and I also have many drive up visitors.”

Bramwell started off buying books for the library, but now it runs mostly on donations.

“I had bags of books dropped on my front porch and now have a stock to fill in as needed.”

Bramwell’s library is especially focused on providing books for children.

“I really enjoy making it a fun place for children to visit.

I keep pencils & bookmarks available as a treat for them to take with their books.” Bramwell said, “Kids love books, but outgrow them fast and ​need the challenge of new ones.”

Her library is now mostly self-sustaining thanks to the take a book, leave a book system of the Little Free In Kenya, a teen girl balances a box of Books for Library program Africa books on her her head. Photo courtesy of and is always full of Books for Africa books.

“My library is a place for is donating a few old books to a book parents in the n​ eighborhood donation program, setting up your own and visitors to get new books Little Free Library or stopping by your for their kids of all ages secondhand bookstore which might and donate b​ ooks they are even be Recycled Reads. finished with. ”​ Bramwell said.

“We think that many times books are All of these people and programs work hard to provide books for eager readers while also making an impact in stopping book waste. And you can make a difference too. All it takes

discarded that are new or nearly new and can still be of great use to readers and students,” Rosendale said. “We try to capture those books and provide them to places that are looking for them.”

Spring . 2022 26

To

Read

Graphics by Zoe Cannon

not

or

to The classic debate over books vs movies and their pros and cons is adressed here in a survey completed by 35 high school students

Read?

Pro

Movies Pro

Movies take up less time and are more visually engaging

Con

Con

Books

Movies don’t include as many details as books do

27 Spring . 2022

Pro

: Bo oks i mpro ve

cus and fo y r o r mem

you

Con: Books can be time consuming and are harder to comprehend then movies

Movies

VS

48.4%

Books

51.6%

Harry Potter Harry Potter is currently one of the most popular series for high schoolers, so much so, that they created a movie adaptation. In this survey you will see if high schoolers perfer the book or movie adapation of this classic story.

21.9%

78.1%

Books

Movies

Spring . 2022 28

Book Recs From the Best

By Mary, Caleb, Zoe, and Mairin

A review of our favorite reads!

29 Spring . 2022

Bridge of Birds

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Faizal

The Sun is Also a Star

We Hun tt

he Flam e

Graphics by Mary Woolsey

Yoon

Hughart

Turton

Mairin

Zoe

Caleb

Mary

We Hunt the Flame is a fantasy novel about Zafira, who works with an assassin to free her world from the Arz, a dangerous forest that has erased magic from the world and is threatedning to overtake the world. However, there are a lot of unexpected legends that pop up to cause problems. The story is so creative and has so many plot twists you were never expecting! I definitely recommend it!

The Sun is also a Star is a philosophical romance about two complete opposites who spend 12 hours together and fall in love. Natasha is a logical and serious Jamacian American who is being deported in less then a day while Daniel is an imaginative poet who is being forced into a career he doesn’t want. This book examines topics such as race, science, family obligations, and what it means to fall in love. Its a thought provoking and touching book that leaves you wanting a love story of your own.

Bridge of Birds is the first novel in the trilogy The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox. Set in ancient China, the aforementioned duo journey to find the Great Root of Power, the only thing that can save the children of Ox’s village from a terrible poison. As stranger and stranger coincidences occur, they realize that they may be going on a different and far greater journey. There were no slow points whatsoever, and at times I would alternate between laughing and crying in the space of a single page. An incredible blend of Holmes-like mystery, Chinese mythology, and Tolkienesque scale, this is easily the best alternative Chinese historical fiction epic fantasy mystery ever made.

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a mystery book where a guy switches between different people’s bodies to try and solve a murder - but he only gets 7 1/2 days to do it before his memories are wiped all over again. This book is definitely 5 stars in my opinion, and it’s a super creative concept that you’ll wish you could read for the first time again!

Spring . 2022 30