In the 1880s, poet Emily Dickinson told us, "There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away." That's still true today, and is why residents of Glenwood Towers apartments were particularly hurt when the county dropped funding for the tiny library tucked in a back corner of their building. Residents of the city-owned complex are elderly or disabled, and the books had served as frigates, transporting readers to other lands, other times, other circumstances. Today, however, a special art sale may help get them more books.
Until 5 p.m. this afternoon, a sale of framed prints will be held in front of Hannaford Food and Drug at 9600 Strickland Road in North Raleigh. Prices range from $10 to over $100. Proceeds will go for new books for the Glenwood Towers library.
The sale was the idea of Ann Juhasz, a part-time Glenwood Towers employee. "I want it to become alive again," she said of the library. "It was the social and cultural center of the building."
Many residents don't have the physcial capability to go to other libraries.
Magazine and newspaper subsriptions are also lacking, save for the local newspaper and Ebony magazine, which are donated. The last Redbook came in November; the last Sports Illustrated is from January.
"I do all my traveling by books," said resident Nellie Carlson. "I go to South America, Australia, all kinds of places, and it's just like I am there."
If the art sale is successful, and if others in the community donate their extra books and magazines, maybe Ms. Carlson will be able to make more journeys through books and her mind's eye
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