Last Month at Zuccotti/Liberty Park...(Part 1)

Part 1: The Read-In

There was a 2 hour "read-in" on Black Friday in protest of Mayor Bloomberg's midnight raid of the Occupy Wall Street movement. The raid resulted in arrests, evictions, police brutality, and the destruction thousands of books from the People's Library.

I had a chance to participate in the read-in, which was both a calming and an inspiring experience. We got there just as the read-in began, and it was amazing to see the crowd of supportive readers grow as time went on.

(Some of the people at the read-in)

(Part of the new, makeshift People's Library)

Some people were just reading silently, others were talking excitedly, and in the background was a constant, trance-like drumming from the other protestors in the park.

This just proved to me that a library is more than just the books that it holds --- it's all about the people who make the library possible, the community that contributes for the purpose of sharing, learning, and connecting.

A (very shaky, sorry - my hands were cold) video of the people at the read-in:



Next up: Part 2, the experience.