On Wed, 18 Oct 2006 02:10:41 -0400, mm
wrote:

[...]

I once told the story of drivign down 2nd Avenue in NYC, somewhere in
the 20's and seeing a big (though only 5 or 6 foot high dumpster full
of books.

There were about 6 guys inside gathering books, plus I joined them of
course. All hardback, on every subject. There were 3 kinds of
people, those who would get in for a while, those who would just walk
by, and those who would stand outside once in a while pointing to a
book and asking someone to get it for them. How they could see the
title on a hardback book with no dust cover, I don't know.

I got about 20 or 25 books the first day, and I went back 2 out of the
next 4 days. The level of books kept getting lower. There must have
been 20,000 to start, and maybe 10,000 when I stopped going. But they
were probably adding more books every day also. (I had to come from
Brooklyn.) The weather was beautiful every day. New Yorkers are used
to finding good stuff in the trash,

AMAZED at what I find on the curbs when I visit family in NYC! Always
want to take stuff home to CA, but not much room in the overhead bins
for filing cabinets, etc. g

because most apartments are small
and even in the 70's people couldnt even keep a broken 12 inch tv
waiting for a time to fix it. No room.

I got about 35 books in total.

And you probably READ them! More power to you.

Just to mention: If one wanted to take the time & trouble, one could
collect and donate to "minority/disadvantaged" public (and perhaps
parochial?) schools that have tiny budgets than the Beverly Hills-type
public schools with their higher property tax base.

I've done that; called schools and arranged to take them boxes of
books and magazines. Eager, alert kids* can mine these donations for
information that is not in their canned textbooks. And
overworked/underpaid teachers can use these materials for lesson
plans, clip art, etc.

* Yes, there ARE some!

Closing anecdote: Years ago I was on (camera) safari in Kenya.
We'd stop at these villages - basically wide places in the road --
and visit the schools. Pathetic facilities; almost no basic supplies
& teaching materials. I just boil, all these years later, thinking of
how materials -- from paper to computers to AV equipment --
are disrespected and WASTED!

Grrr...people should see how the other 1/2 -- or rather 7/8 -- lives.

Aspasia