Catching Readers

I love seeing people – catching people – reading. It’s so low-tech, so comfortable, so solitary. It’s heartening to drive by a person sitting on a bench with a book, or standing in a long line behind a reader.

I used to toss around the idea of a photojournalist-type project: take photos of people reading, wherever you find them. Like the guy I saw yesterday, stretched out on the short wall that separates West Beach from the running path. He was lying on a cement wall, but he looked as content and comfortable as if he’d been lounging in his backyard in a hammock, probably because he was totally absorbed in his book. Wish I’d had my camera.

So to that end, I’ll make that a goal for this month – since I already carry my camera along nearly everywhere I go, I’ll use it more often, to catch people reading. I’ll post those photos here in my blog, and maybe some on facebook.

With that goal in mind, allow me to take this opportunity to remind everyone that May is Get Caught Reading Month. “Get Caught Reading” was one of my favorite national campaigns, as a bookseller. They’re still around and still doing great work: http://www.getcaughtreading.org/. Launched in 1999, GCR reading is a nationwide campaign to remind people of all ages how much fun it is to read.

What could be more fabulous than that? Check back often, as I post my Get Caught Reading photos next month, to celebrate Get Caught Reading month.

Thanks for reading – K8.