The Snoot Letter #9 – Sidewalk Library
The Snoot Letter
Issue #9 – November 11, 2019
As I’m sure some of you noticed, there was no Snoot Letter last week. I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do with this newsletter, and realistically there are times that my mind is absorbed with things that I can’t really talk about publicly (such as when I have a film in pre-production or production). I guess what I’m saying is that sometimes I’ll skip a week or two.
The Snoot offices are located on a busy intersection in Los Angeles. There’s a bus stop out front, a highway two blocks away, and plenty of automotive and pedestrian traffic all day long. The nature of Los Angeles is that large sections of it feel like a city built only for cars. But I honestly think neighborhoods are only pleasant when they feel like they’re built for people. So I’m trying to make some small changes to our micro-neighborhood to make it more welcoming.
Last month, we installed an old newspaper machine that has been refurbished as a “sidewalk library” outside our Snoot office building. I included a few starter books from the shelves of my office, and waited to see what would happen.
For the first week, there was almost no activity. But by the end of the month, it was clear that the “library” was getting heavy usage. I still haven’t seen anyone using the library directly, but I check it at least once a week and there’s a heavy rotation happening. One day it was full of fantasy novels. A couple weeks ago, it had a bunch of non-fiction and language workbooks. The other day it was full of children’s books.
Now I need to figure out the next step in this hyper-local beautification project. Any suggestions?
~ Keith Calder
This Week’s Recommendations
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🎬 Blindspotting is on HBO now! You should be able to find it streaming on whatever app you use to access HBO.
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☕️ I’ve been drinking Rooibos tea after dinner, and I think it’s a lovely way to calm down at the end of a stressful day. I’ve been getting my tea from Simpson & Vail