<\/a><\/p>\n

By PDX People<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

PORTLAND, Ore. \u2013 During the summer and fall months in Portland Oregon, it\u2019s not uncommon to find Laura Moulton<\/a><\/span> on her bike delivering books to homeless PDX locals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her Street Books<\/a><\/span> project started in 2011 as a three-month social practice \u201cart project\u201d and since then it\u2019s become a regular program with volunteer and paid employees who take the time to hand out books to many of the areas homeless.<\/span><\/p>\n

About Street Books<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Although she may seem like a librarian, Laura Moulton isn\u2019t an \u201cofficial\u201d librarian, she\u2019s a teacher and writer who saw a need that had to be filled in Portland Oregon and stepped up to fill that need with Street Books.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s great about Street Books<\/a><\/span> is that in an age where most books have gone digital and can be read on tablets or smartphones, Moulton has a wide selection of books to choose from thanks to donations, she\u2019s also open to taking requests from readers and will take the time to search local second-hand bookstores to find those books.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her library system is basically reliant on a card and a handshake but that doesn\u2019t stop the city\u2019s homeless population from looking forward to Street Books every year (from June to October) because those books break seemingly endless hours of nothing to do and give them something to look forward to.<\/span><\/p>\n

Crossover Interactions<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Another reason why Street Books has been so successful over the last 6 years in Portland is because Laura Moulton believes that her mobile library offers the home homeless \u201ccrossover interactions\u201d, or opportunities for people who are not homeless to interact with Portland\u2019s homeless population, instead of ignoring them, or seeing an individual carrying a cardboard sign but never taking the time to get to know them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the years, Street Books has been a bright spot in the days of many people including Ben Hogdson, one of many PDX people who live on the streets.<\/span><\/p>\n

Besides being a regular patron of Street Books, Ben eventually went to work for the organization and shortly after was able to turn his life around, get off the street, and move into Section 8 housing in Portland.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the weather in Portland is cold and snowing now, we can expect to see Laura Moulton and Street Books delivering books to the homeless this year as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n