Friday, October 16, 2009

Book News

I thought I’d catch you all up on what has been going on with the Book Fairy. Most of you will remember that the UNC Pediatric Oncology Clinic moved into the new cancer hospital this past August. The Book Fairy was asked to make an appearance the first week. Boy, what a beautiful place. Dr. Gold and his staff quickly set up shop and once again are making a difference in many families’ lives. The Book Fairy was pleased to be included in the move.

The staff was overwhelmed by how many boxes of wonderful books we have accumulated. Their reaction during that first week was, “No more books!”

We have done such a good job collecting books; we actually have more than there is storage for. I have rented a storage unit to hold the overflow that was living in our garage.

In these past couple of months, the Book Fairy has run into stumbling blocks that have made her wonder if it is all worth it. Lack of storage, difficulties with parking and just figuring out a whole new system of displaying the books. Karl came to her as she was working in the clinic this past Friday. She was finally able to put some “library books” in the brand new exam rooms (she wasn’t allowed before) and Karl spoke to her and said, “Mama, this is what it’s all about. It’s not about the parking or the lack of storage. It’s about the kids. Remember all the boring times we were trapped in a similar exam room waiting to be seen and wouldn’t it have been wonderful to find a stack of books to read together? This is what you’re doing it for.”

I have held out special books for the “library”. You know, collections of stories, I Spy or Finding Waldo or books that are interesting, but more than one child would enjoy reading. That’s the type of book I was able to put out.

The other books are going home with families or they are scattered around the clinic after they have served as a distraction. The clinic’s Rec. Therapist has gotten involved and plans to involve a hospital volunteer to help restock the shelves. That will be great to have the inside involvement.

The Book Fairy would eventually like to find someone who would volunteer a storage closet somewhere in Chapel Hill, so we don’t have to spend too much money on storage. We had hoped there would be enough storage at the new hospital, but space will always be at a premium there. So, let us know if you know of a place we can store boxes of books that will be moved out and then replenished when we have another book drive.

We still need preschool Spanish books and money donations.

Thanks for your continued interest. Our work is worth it.

Love, Kathy

Book Fairy

1 comment:

Stefan said...

Kathy,

Thank you for what you've done with the Karl's Books program. Your generous response to such a loss is an inspiration to those of us who can only imagine how crushing the loss of a child would be. You are truly special, and you honor Karl's memory with what you've done.

Stefan Bloodworth