Creating Traditions with Books

Tis the season for traditions!

And while not all traditions are based on holidays or religion, as the weather cools and the days get shorter, traditions often give us comfort this time of year. Whether we are surrounded by family or flying solo these days, traditions are wonderful ways to share history, create memories and look to the future.

You may not initially think of books when you draw on your traditions, but for many people, books and reading make up a core piece to their traditions. The purpose of traditions is to carry beliefs and values from generation to generation. On a smaller level, they give us stability, comfort, something to look forward to and share with others. These customs and practices are repeatable and carry a reflection of the person or people doing them.

So, yes, a tradition may be to volunteer on Christmas Eve as a family. It may be eating turkey with cornbread stuffing on Thanksgiving. It may be an annual trip with family or friends. But maybe you have traditions around reading and sharing books. It’s more common than you may notice or realize.

Traditions around reading can happen every year, season, month, week or even day. But the impact they have on us and our loved ones lasts a long time.

Book traditions can include:

• Reading to your children at bedtime
• Organizing an annual book swap with friends or co-workers
• Listening to audiobooks on roadtrips
• Using books to share what holidays mean to you and your family
• Donating books every year during spring cleaning
• Reading at a local school or youth group monthly
• Going to see your favorite author every time they do a local reading
• Re-reading your favorite books before the movie versions comes out
• Choosing a book that reflects the new season
• Making sure everyone on your list gets at least one book as a gift
• Commiting to buildlng your home library

We can base our traditions around the time of year, life events, milestones and more. Besides the enjoyment we receive from these experiences, traditions also allow us to pass along to others what is important to us. This can provide stability, especially in uncertain times.

Traditions anchor us.

In fact, we hope you’ll join us for a tradition in the making – our first annual Holiday Book Give-Away. This outdoor event on Saturday, December 11th, noon-2pm will take place at the BookGive Service Station at 4890 Lowell Blvd. Unlimited free books for all ages, children and adults. We’ll be jammin’ the holiday tunes, elves will bring some cheer from the North Pole and free gift wrapping while supplies last. More info here.

For namy of us, traditions can create a strong sense of cultural identity and now, more than ever, books can be a part of that thanks to the huge range and representation in books for all ages.

We know that traditions bring us together, whether they are religious or secular.

But it’s just as important to see traditions as evolving when necessary. If the spot you go to for tamales every Christmas closes, you find a new tamale restaurant or ask a family elder to teach you and make them at home together. These changes can be hard but can sometimes improve and make the new generations feel involved in the changes.

This goes for reading and book traditions as well. If there was a book you grew up reading with others at certain times but you now realize there are aspects of the book that may now seem problematic, it is a chance to create a new version of that tradition.

Children certainly make traditions fun. Some people may love to read A Visit From St. Nicholas (affectionately known as ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas) every Christmas Eve. And if that’s a tradition in your family, enjoy it! But you can add other Christmas tales such as J.K. Rowling’s new book, The Christmas Pig (also available in Spanish); or Yolen & Teague’s How Do Dinosaurs Say Merry Christmas.

Or you can introduce your family and friends to other holidays this season with books like Simon and the Bear, by Eric Kimmel about a boy celebrating Hanukkah with a polar bear; Soulful Holidays, by Ciara Hill about families who celebrate both Christmas and Kwanzaa; or the new addition to Daisy Meadows’ popular Rainbow Magic book series, Deena the Diwali Fairy.

If books have not been part of your holiday traditions, might this be the year to try it? You don’t have to have children in your life. Adults can make a traditions of their own as well.

However you decide to include books in your traditions, they can have a lasting impact on you and your loved ones by bringing you together and creating new memories. BookGive exists for exactly this reason, to offer opportunities to those who want to include books in their life moments with family and friends but may not otherwise have access. We believe that everyone deserves books in their lives.

You could say that’s a BookGive tradition!

This blog contributed by BookGive volunteer, Maya Strausberg.