Monday, March 2, 2015

The Book Thing of Baltimore

A few months ago I saw an article on Buzzfeed called 17 Bookstores that Will Literally Change Your Life and I've got to admit that those listed were pretty cool. But that's what the list was, 17 Cool Bookstores. 

If you go into downtown Baltimore, past an old shuttered theater, past plywood crosses nailed to storefront churches, past the signs for the upcoming spaghetti disco, across the street from an old bottling plant is an unassuming building with a cramped parking lot and a simple sign.

You've arrived at The Book Thing of Baltimore. The only book store that will literally change your life (and no, it wasn't listed in the above linked piece).  Why is The Book Thing so life changing? Because it is a FREE book store. They accept donations in the bins outside of the building at all times. Then on Saturday and Sunday, they open the doors to the public, point you in the direction of the pile of empty boxes, and tell you to fill them.

Are they really free? Yes. Yes they are. I walked in the door this past Saturday and left with 100 books. A friend who went down at the same time brought home 356 books. All free. 

If you are in the area, or close enough to road trip it, it is worth the time.

Here's my haul.



No comments: