As I'm writing this, my wonderful wife is probably on her way to visit that treasure trove of Vanderhoof goodies, the reuse shed. This shed makes it's home in the Nechako Waste Transfer Station and is always full of books.
We have a passion for books old ones are a bonus but we take home plenty of new ones too. We have more books than we have shelves at home and have for quite some time now. In total, I'd say we own over 2,000 books between the two of us.
That's why the reuse shed has been such a boon to us, a nearly infinite source of free literature, there for the taking. At first the temptation to just take every book in sight was difficult to control but we make sure to only grab books that we will definitely read.
"This is where I come to do all my book shopping," said one customer. A sentiment shared by myself and certainly many other Vanderhoofians too cool to use the library.
I would make more use of the public library but I like to own a book and be able to read it at my leisure, electronic copy is fine for this. If I count all the books on my computer that would add another 1,000, making it approximately 3,000 books between the two of us. Of course I haven't read all of them, but I can say with confidence that I've read more than 75 per cent.
Some of the treasures I've unearthed from the shelves of the reuse shed include Ringworld by Larry Niven, a science fiction book that first came up with the idea of a giant space ring, much like the Halo video game series. Another great find was Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood the great Canadian writer. It is a great novel about a strange post-apocalyptic world.
Of course the reuse shed isn't just for books. There's toys, clothing, dinnerware and kitchen appliances of all sorts. Just the other day I saw an exercise bike sitting in the dirt outside the shed. I was tempted of course, but I would only want it so that I could get a little exercise while I read.