The first quarter 2023 GSH Book Swap held on Saturday, February 18th, in the Sheriff Library, was well attended with an increase of members larger than our first Free Book Open House Halloween in 2022. The event was sponsored by Rene Mott representing Empress Exploration. In the morning, members came to donate books, look over the selection (Figure 1), and take home free books. Coffee and fresh cream scones were offered (Figure 2) in the morning. Wine, cheese, and fruit was served (Figure 3) in the evening.
Mihai Popovici, a big fan of learning from books, was so grateful for the selection of books that he can distribute within his company, to colleagues, and to students, that he donated a generous $500 to the Sheriff Library.
GSH member, Sue Pritchett, was very happy to select two boxes of books for her personal library and share technical books with colleagues at her office library at IKON. (Figure 4)
The GSH Sheriff Library continually builds on the foundation of Robert Sheriff’s Personal Library which has grown to over 2,300+ cataloged titles through the generous donation of GSH members’ technical books. The GSH volunteers sort through the donated books placing unique titles in the Sheriff Technical Library to be used by members for research. Of interest, some of the books were recently used as exhibits in a patent lawsuit successfully. The non-unique books continue their literary life in our Members Free Library (Figure 5), Universities, and ‘Books for Development’ to improve growing libraries around the world.
As a scientist with a physics background, we know that matter is not created or destroyed. At GSH we continue to see value in the written word to not simply toss it out, but to pass this knowledge on to younger scientist, students, and around the world for improving literacy. We will continue to hold book swaps throughout the year and plan another swap in the summertime of 2023.
While we have plenty of technical books for swapping with members, remember the end goal is literacy so we take magazines, paperbacks, novels, developmental books, and full sets of encyclopedias because many countries do not have access to the internet. Come and join the fun, share and come away with something good. Something good could be a book, a beverage, a chat, or the good feeling that you are part of something good for the world.
Looking forward to seeing all geoscientists and readers in the summer!!