Deb made shelf awareness today!

Books with Wings Takes Flight

The indefatigable Deb Hunter, who among other things calls herself the top banana at Chicklet Books, Princeton, N.J., has a request for people in the industry. She has promised to delivery 1,000 new children's books free to Wise County, Va., in July next year as part of Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corps, which provides free medical, dental and optical care to the most desperate citizens of Appalachia. The book giveaway will be managed by Julie Winklestein, who is earning a Master's at the University of Tennessee and has already donated books through Rural America, most of which she has purchased herself.

To facilitate the project, Hunter and Winklestein have formed the Books with Wings, whose goal, borrowed from other book angel projects, is to place artificial trees with paper angels with book titles written on them. (The titles will be chosen by committee; there will also be a few blanks for the stores to fill in as they wish.) Customers can purchase the book, give it to the store and receive a thank-you donation letter for tax purposes.

Books with Wings needs "creative board members and people with experience writing mission statements, by-laws and constitutions." The organization needs indie bookstores to offer space for a book angel trees. For more information, call Chicklet Books at 609-279-2121 or e-mail Hunter at topbanana@chickletbooks.com.