Help request

[serene]

Please read and pass around if you know people who are generous with their
books. My email address is serene@serenepages.org [Edit: That's also my
paypal account address. daltong has sweetly offered to help with
money for this project, and if you want to do that, too, I would be happy to
buy books and/or cover postage with the money.]

I work at the Disabled Students' Program office at UC Berkeley. One of
our students is going to be taking English classes this semester with the
aid of a realtime captioner. The captioner could use copies of the
textbooks for the classes, in order to look up terms and themes, but we have
no budget for buying the books and the department has refused to lend us
desk copies. (Other departments are coming through in a lovely, generous
fashion.)

Anyway, lots of the texts are novels, poems, or plays. Several of them
are available on Gutenberg, and I've bookmarked those, and I brought in
Their Eyes Were Watching God from home because I own it, but we
still need the books below. Anyone feel like lending any of the titles to
our department for the semester? I could come pick them up if you're in
the East Bay, or if you're willing to ship them here, I can give you my
address and you could either donate the shipping or I will pay for it if
it's less than the cost of buying the book. You would really be helping a
student to succeed in college, and I would pay the return shipping (book
rate) (or I could BookCross the book if you don't want it back.)

We don't need new copies/editions -- older editions are fine.

Thanks in advance!

Voices from the Edge, by O'Brien
Shape of Things, by Labute
Children of a Lesser God, by Medoff
Hospital Poems, by Ferris
Staring Back, by Fries
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot, by Callahan
Sign Me Alice & Laurent Clerk, by Eastman
Palestine, by Sacco
Norton Anthology of English Lit V. 1, by Abrams
Sovereignty & Goodness of God, by Rowlandson
Castaways, by Devaca
Yellow Woman, by Silko
Confessions of Nat Turner & Docs, by Greenberg
Brothers & Keepers, by Wideman (Thanks, leback.)
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Brent
Equiano's Travels, by Equiano
American Indian Stories, by Zitkala-sa

Comments

[tenacious-snail.livejournal.com]

I want to take the class....what a great set of books!

Several of them I have not heard of, which makes me want to get them...so let me volunteer myself as a book crossing first stop...and ping me in another week to let me know what you're still missing, and if it is something I want to read, I will go buy a copy with the idea that you'll give it to me after the semester.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks so much! I will do that!

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

We should start a book club, open to anyone, where we actually talk about books, but there's also yummy cheese to eat. Shouldn't we?

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[tenacious-snail.livejournal.com]

I'd be up for it once the job hunt is through.

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

My Norton anthologies are 30 years out of date, and most of my books are packed. But Brothers & Keepers is by John Wideman, not Wildeman. (It is an extraordinary and painful book by the author of Philadelphia Fire.)

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[leback.livejournal.com]

I have John Edgar Wideman's Brothers and Keepers--I assume that's the one you mean? If so, I'd be delighted to loan it. I can deliver it in person next Friday if that works for you.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Oh, wonderful -- thank you!

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I used to have the Callahan book. It was initially hilarious but got old fast. I gave it away to Goodwill or something. (It's all cartoons.)

$

[daltong.livejournal.com]

I don't have any of those books, but I'd be happy to donate to the cause. Do you have a paypal set up?

Re: $

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

I do, thanks! serene@serenepages.org

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

Does your bookstore sell these to students for the classes or is the material provided to students in another way? I'd suggest getting in touch with the book publishers to see if you can get free desk copies for your captioner. I work for a college textbook publisher and I'm pretty sure we'd have no problem saying yes to such a request.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

The problem with that is the lead time. The publishers all need a fair bit of it, and the departments had to order their desk copies months ago. Most of the departments in question are just lending us one of their desk copies, but English refuses to do so. The woman was very nasty about it, too.

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

Ah, understood. In my case (and unfortunately English is not my discipline and I don't even think those are mostly books published by my company)if a school or sales rep called me with that request I'd put in an order with a request to expedite delivery or I'd just pull them off my office shelves and send them out (and then just order myself replacement copies). I wonder if that's peculiar to me or to my company.

[leback.livejournal.com]

You know, it strikes me that the individual professors might be more helpful--even if the department "can't" help, the professors may have access to copies belonging to the department, or may have personal copies, that they could loan to you.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Yes, we've contacted all the profs, but when some of them didn't respond to us, we went to the departments.

[hq447.livejournal.com]

Can you go over her head?? that's BULLSHIT.

Also, any UCB employee can borrow books for the semester out of the library. email me if you need a contact at the library (the one with the cafe beside it)

[hq447.livejournal.com]

i second asking the professors, but don't forget the resources at the library. when you ask the professors, let it slip casually that the english department lady was a bee-otch.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

okay, jesus h. fucking christ on a pogo stick-- the english department won't lend out a copy of "don't worry, he won't get far on foot" to help a disabled student?

that's so awful it's funny.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

(p.s. have none of those. have no money. will ask friends.)

[leback.livejournal.com]

Isn't it?

I wonder if the student newspaper would be interested in that story...seems like the department deserves some publicity.

[papabearnz.livejournal.com]

I'll ask around. I have several friends with quite extensive libraries. I'm pretty sure there is a spare copy of Children of a Lesser God around somewhere. I can't promise but I will investigate definitely.

BTW - Wasn't that book made into a movie or something?

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Yup, William Hurt, Marlee Matlin. So-so movie, not great, not awful.

[hq447.livejournal.com]

also, what's that one website where your friends list all the books they own? damn, someone help me out here - cus that might be another source.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Mediachest? BookCrossing?

[tenacious-snail.livejournal.com]

if you want Bookcrossing help, you might want to check with whytraven

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

http://www.librarything.com/

I love it.

[annaoj.livejournal.com]

I *think* I have a copy of the Callahan that I could loan, I'd have to check when I get home Sunday.

[ptigris.livejournal.com]

Had Norton... first year English honors courses I took. I think I sold it back though for gas money.

Don't get paid until Friday next week, and by then if I'm still working at the place (I find out latest tomorrow), I'll be on days and will be back down in your area for (the 19th) Thursday and can drop off a few bucks for the cause.

Best I can do. Wish I could get it to you faster.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

I hereby forbid you to give funds right now. You are strapped enough as it is, and others who are less strapped have been very generous.

[ptigris.livejournal.com]

*replies, Chihiro-style (from Spirited Away)*

Yes, Ma'am.

[(Anonymous)]

I do have a few of these books. Now if I could just get to them...

[stonebender.livejournal.com]

Oops, that was me.