When I transformed my book giveaway box into a Writing Nook last month, I struggled with whether to add some sort of writing implement. I’m using the Writing Nook to give away blank notebooks in several sizes, index cards, and books about writing.
I mentally went back-and-forth on whether to include pencils or pens. I prefer pens myself, but with our very cold winters (24 below zero was a constant for two weeks this past February), leaving pens outside is a sure way to make them explode.
Pencils would be a good option, I thought, but do I sharpen them or leave them unsharpened? If they are sharpened, would that encourage no-good-niks to write on the box? I couldn’t settle on an answer, so I decided to start the Writing Nook without any writing implements.
The other day, as I drove up to the house after a day at work, I saw a woman on the sidewalk struggling to pull something out of a plastic bag from her backpack. Then she made her way to the Writing Nook and opened the door. As I walked to my front steps, she said she was adding pencils and hoped that was okay.
Okay? That’s fabulous!
She solved my dilemma about whether to add pencils. They were Friends of the Library pencils, which is even better. My Writing Nook will happily serve as a place to promote libraries.
When I first transformed my giveaway box to give it a writing focus, I was a little worried no one would stop by, and they certainly didn’t when it was 24-below, but people seem to have caught on and have taken enough notebooks and index cards that I needed to replenish the supply. While out shopping for notebooks, I picked up some sharpened pencils to add to the nook.
Voila! My Writing Nook now has pencils!
