Russell Wattenberg and his "Book Thing"- edit

I’ve always admired the man who gives a lot and asks for little in return. I don’t think an entrepreneur has to be someone who starts something with the goal of becoming wealthy. While I respect the man who is good at it, I see more in the man who chooses not to.

On the first day of class, our professor gave the assignment of finding the cheapest, yet legal, way of acquiring our necessary literature and viewings. Instantly, I was reminded of a place my sister used to take me when I was younger. The Book Thing Inc. is a non-profit organization located in Baltimore that takes donations of books and gives them all away for free, with the occasional sale of true collector’s piece (a first edition of Hemingway’s, The Old Man and the Sea, went for $228.50 and that went to buying more books). Had I not been stuck at work during almost all of the shop’s open hours, I might have actually gone there to look for our books. Alas, I rushed to Barnes and Noble after work this week to pick up the books at retail price. However, after being reminded of The Book Thing, I set out to learn more about it. I haven’t been there in probably six or seven years.

After getting a little history on The Book Thing, I came to realize how selfless and amazing the owner and founder, Russell Wattenberg, truly is. He’ll tell you there’s some selfishness involved; he figures if more people read there will be more intelligent people to have conversations with. I guess I can accept that.

Ideas come about differently for everyone, and it is the true entrepreneur that follows that idea and makes something out of it. For Wattenberg, he says it all started when he was managing Dougherty’s Pub and a group of school teachers came in for happy hour on a Friday. He had picked up a load of books earlier in the day and still had them out in his van. He gave his keys to them and told them to "Open it up, take whatever books you need for your classes or for yourselves." The teachers were amazed at his generosity and soon afterwards people started donating boxes of books for his “book thing.” Sometimes Wattenberg would load his van full of books, drive to a local playground or bus stop, throw open his doors, and yell “Free Books!”

In 1999, Wattenberg set up a non-profit and acquired enough grant money to rent a space and pay himself a small salary. The space, which has grown from just a small basement with no heat, bathroom, or parking, to a multi-room ordeal, is now located right around Greenmount and 30th. There are no employees, but volunteers are welcome to provide help. If you get a chance, he could use the help; he spends up to a hundred hours a week there sometimes.

At the time a 2002 article was written, he estimated there were roughly 200,000 books at anytime. Pretty impressive considering none of them came out of his pocket, eh? Each week he said about 10,000 books were given away to a wide assortment of people that included university professors and homeless people. I can only guess as to the amount of books he has and gives away now. When asked what book it was he got the most, he immediately replied, “Iacocca,” the autobiography of the very successful automotive entrepreneur. I couldn’t help but be a little amused considering the circumstances.

My fellow students and I are currently reading two books designed to inform us on the principles of being successful. I searched long and hard through How to Win Friends and Influence People and Crossing the Chasm in order to find a specific principle that really defined Wattenberg. He just didn't come off as someone who tried to make people like him, they just did. Of course! Flipping back through the pages of How to Win Friends and Influence People, it was hard to find a principle that Wattenberg didn't employ. For time's sake, I'll just reference principle one: Don't criticize, condemn, or complain. Hell, I know plenty of people who probably wouldn't shut up if they were just scraping by while spending most of their waking hours putting books on shelves. Yet, Wattenberg appears to love it. He wants to spread the beauty of reading and not simply limit his companions to people just like him.

The whole idea behind Russell's creation is that it is a place for everyone. While this is certainly true, it is likely Wattenberg has a target market that he attempts to reach in one form or another. The majority of publicity that The Book Thing, Inc. receives is through online and print publications such as The Citypaper and The Baltimore Sun. These are available for free in one form or another, and while not everyone chooses to read them, it is likely the best Wattenberg can do given his monetary constraints. Through these sources, he probably aims to reach those people who have enough education to be literate, and beyond that enjoy reading on a regular basis. Word of mouth is likely the best publicity The Book Thing can get.

When looking at some statistics, it is a bit shocking how little some adults read. According to a USA Today article, one in four adults read zero books in 2006. However, excluding these people, the usual number read in a year was seven. It is also mentioned that the most avid readers are women and older people. For The Book Thing, Inc. to remain busy, it is necessary that Wattenberg reaches out to his most likely customers and have them spread the word amongst themselves.

The more I read about Russell, the more I wished I was as selfless as him. I find it unfortunate that many of these people who devote their lives to helping others often have to struggle to support themselves. Russell Wattenberg is a truly selfless entrepreneur, and I admire him greatly for that.

Information acquired from http://www.bookthing.org