My book, The Adoption Network, includes ideas for starting an adoption support community in a small town or small church—one where there are few foster or adoptive families. One of my low-budget recommendations is to start a resource lending library.
Gracie, a foster mom who blogs at “The Journey of a Lifetime,” took that suggestion to heart and joined BookMooch, a free, online book trading service. Gracie writes:
The only cost involved is the shipping cost of books people mooch from you. I’ve been able to get some of my adoption books this way, which definitely helps with the expense.
Gracie then added a cool feature to her blog: she created her own online lending library. She writes:
“Our church is small and therefore not very conducive to circulating adoption books to those outside of it. So this has become my venue for making these available to whomever I meet. I plan on writing a review on each book, and asking those who borrow a book to leave a comment on the ones they read with a short review as well.”
Gracie’s inventory currently includes the following books:
- Fields of the Fatherless : C. Thomas Davis
- The Adoption Decision : Laura Christianson
- The Adoption Network : Laura Christianson
- The Complete Adoption Book : Laura & Raymond Godwin
- Becoming a Family : Lark Eshleman, Ph.D.
- Toddler Adoption : Mary Hopkins-Best
- Attaching in Adoption : Deborah D. Gray
- Nurturing Adoptions : Deborah D. Gray
- Dear Birthmother : Kathleen Silber & Phylis
- The Adoption Experience : Lois Ruskai Melina & Sharon Kaplan Roszia
- Real Parents, Real Children : Holly van Gulden & Lisa M. Bartels-Rabb
- Adoption as a Ministry, Adoption as a Blessing : Michelle Gardner
- Launching an Orphans Ministry : Jason Weber (FamilyLife)
- Children of Open Adoption : Kathleen Silber & Patricia Martinez Dorner
- How It Feels to be Adopted : Jill Krementz
- A Mind at a Time : Mel Levine, M.D.
- I’m Chocolate, You’re Vanilla : Marguerite A. Wright
- Acres of Hope : Patty Anglin
Gracie reviewed both my books on her blog. She wrote me: “Your Adoption Network book has been the best of its kind that I have found. I appreciated all the practical ideas of ways to get involved.”
Check out her reviews:
The Adoption Decision review
The Adoption Network review
Thanks, Gracie, for sharing a fantastic, workable idea for distributing adoption-related books!
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Thank you for inspiring the idea, Laura!