Cayla Van Brocklin, a social welfare examiner at the Oswego County Department of Social Services since 2014 poses with her little library at work. With the donations people make to “check out” books, she’s able to give back to her community. (Photo provided)
OSWEGO — When Cayla Van Brocklin started her mini-library at the Oswego County Department of Social Services for her co-workers, she would have never guessed that “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F***” would ultimately turn out to have such a positive impact on her community.
Van Brocklin doesn’t exactly live by the mantra of Mark Manson’s New York Times bestseller. In fact, she cares a great deal.
In late July, Van Brocklin and her husband came to the conclusion that they just had too many books in their house. Instead of throwing them out, she brought them to work and put them on an empty shelf.
“I figured it would be a great way to get books out of my house and give people at work a chance to read books they might not have,” she said.
She put a donation jar on the shelf and asked that people put in whatever they think is affordable, usually only $1. Van Brocklin is a lenient librarian; she doesn’t make anyone sign books out and there are no late fees.
On the last day of her local United Way’s book sale at the Social Services office, Van Brocklin was able to purchase 30 children’s books with the money from the library donation jar. She donated them to the DSS services program so they can go to kids in foster care or to families that work with Child Protective Services.
“It’s great to see them get books. They don’t always have a lot of things accessible to them,” Van Brocklin said. “And even something as simple as a book, even if it’s not brand new, it’s something that is theirs and they get excited about that.”
When the local chapter of Blessings in a Backpack sent out an “SOS” that they were in need of food donations, Van Brocklin was able to take the money from her library and donate food to the organization. (Photo provided)
Van Brocklin also noticed that the Oswego chapter of Blessings in a Backpack, a nonprofit organization that helps feed elementary students during the school year, put out a ‘SOS’ that they were in need of donations.
Again, Van Brocklin was able to take donations from her little library and buy some food to donate to the program.
“It’s a win in every direction,” she said. “I don’t have as many books as I did in my house. My co-workers are able to read books for one dollar or less. And all of that money is going back into the community.”
Co-worker book club
Van Brocklin said many of her co-workers enjoy reading, a big reason why her little library has been such a success in only a few months.
“It’s fun and gives them a chance to all have something in common to talk about, and they’re all arguing (jokingly) over who gets books first” she said. “People, even if they don’t like to read, like that the shelf looks a little homey and cozy in that area.”
On the shelf includes many books by mystery author Dean Koontz. Van Brocklin admits she’s a big murder-mystery fan. However, the book everyone wants to read right now is Deila Owens’ “Where the Crawdads Sing.”
“It’s interesting to see everyone’s preferences,” Van Brocklin said. “One of the nicest, gentlest souls that I work with loves reading Stephen King and all those sci-fi books, which is funny, because I would have pictured her as a romance or beach-read type of lady, but she’s totally not.”
Whenever Van Brocklin is able to use the library money to make a donation, she always tries to send out an email to her co-workers.
“I know so many people in our agency that like seeing all the good we do,” she said. “I think just seeing something as simple as donating $1 to read a book can really cause an impact on someone else. It’s great, and I think everyone wants to be a part of that.”
Van Brocklin’s advice to others? “If you have the easiest or simplest way to do something good, just do it,” she says. “I honestly didn’t expect my library to bring so much good in such a short time. I hope it continues to grow, and if people hear about it, they do something similar where they are. I’m just glad it’s doing something good for the community, because this is a year when we all really need it.”
— Nicholas Newcomb
