May 2007, Volume 9, Issue 8

The Most Unusual Library

Hare Krishna! We thought that you guys would be interested to know about the most unusual library that we have ever placed books in.

At the end of March a dozen of us, devotees from San Diego, went to join an interesting event organized by a group of San Diego youngsters. The name of the gathering was E=MC2 which stood for Music, Arts, & Conscious Lifestyle Event. The event was supposed to help people expand awareness and consciousness through community involvement. The words “awareness” and “consciousness” were never really explained or elaborated upon during the four days of the event. Well, I guess that’s why we went there: to discuss “awareness and consciousness”. It turned out to be a very nice preaching event for us. We had a large 20’x20’ tent, nicely decorated, with an altar for Krishna, instruments and all kinds of interesting paraphernalia lying around. Many were attracted. Oh, I would love to tell you all about it but there is not enough room for all that text in this newsletter. So let me tell you about the library.

On the way out of this gathering, going back to San Diego, we stopped at this unusual library in Slab City. At first glance this city, situated in the middle of a desert, appears to be a shapeless town of random RVs and derelict junk. In the whole city you don’t find one house, only RVs. It seems that the government does not charge any kinds of fees or taxes for camping out there, therefore all the RVs. There is also the famous Salvation Mountain. (Look for “Additional Images” link at the bottom of this article to see some really cool images.) This city, a couple of decades ago, used to be a large army base. Some RVs here look very unkept, almost abandoned.

One such RV, actually a group of a few connected RVs, was the city library. The library was surrounded by a fence and a variety of desert plants. It even had a yard with a swing hanging off a large tree. Upon enquiring we learned that no one owns this library. Someone set it up years ago and now it is available to anyone who wants to take advantage of the facilities it offers. People keep dropping off books they would like to share with the other citizens of Slab City and the nearby Niland. It was interesting to see how all the books were nicely categorized and all the shelves and sections of the library labeled. The whole library is constructed from discarded materials, basically junk. The walls are made of milk crates, instruments such as saxophone, vehicle registration plates, plywood, tarps etc. On the shelves, besides books, you can find all kinds of interesting articles. Most notably a set of used dentures. There were so many things in this tiny library, so many details. Upon entering it we spent about half an hour just looking around. Eventually we composed our minds, retrieved them from the field of almost unlimited interesting little things and took about 100 small paper back books out of the trunk of my car. Next we found the appropriate section, “Religion,” made some room and neatly placed the books on the shelves. Now the citizens of this unusual town will have an opportunity to read about Krishna and the process of attaining Him, all that in this very unusual library.

For several hours after we left the library we continued to talk about it. One thing we all agreed upon: it is very important to always have some books on you. If you don’t have books on you how can you distribute any? But if you have some, then even when you find yourself in such an unusual place as Slab City you’ll be able to share Krishna with others. Who would ever expect to find Krishna consciousness in such a remote place? But now it is available. That is the mercy of the sankirtana movement. Hare Krishna.

Library entrance

Inside the library

Katie (left) and Lori (right) look around

Bronson (left), Giriraja Gopal (middle), & Mahat (right)

Look at the library from it’s couryard

One of the sections/departments of the library

Some of the unusual articles on the library’s shelves

Another unusual article: used denture

A corner of the library’s courtyard

The swing

Back door to the library

Giriraj Gopal (left) & Bk. Bronson (right) in the zine section of the library

Mahat & Lori place books on the shelves

Additional images:

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