Uncategorized – discoverbooks.com let the stories live on

January 27, 2020January 27, 2020 Discover Books Uncategorized

Giving Back

“Discover Books Donates 1,000 Children’s Books to Cecil County Public Library’s Reading Program”

Elkton, MD – Baltimore, MD – January 27, 2020

1000 Books Before Kindergarten is the Cecil County Public Library’s program to develop a life-long love of reading in children. Reading to young children stimulates their brains and helps them develop an active imagination, all of which helps them thrive academically. According to a study done by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Reading & Literacy Discovery Center, reading to children in the first five years of life gives them an advantage when they get to school.

To help with Cecil County Public Library’s effort to emphasize the importance of reading, a local company, Discover Books is donating 1,000 early age children’s books to Cecil County Public Library. This donation valued at over $3,000 will be presented to the library’s Executive Director, Morgan Miller by Discover Books’ CEO, Gary Broache.

Mayor Rob Alt, Jacob Young, Emmy award-winning actor and ambassador for Discover Books, Dave Reymann, CFO of Discover Books, and Gary Broache, CEO of Discover Books will lead the ceremony on Monday, January 27, 2020, at 11 am. Cecil County Public Library – Elkton, MD 21921

A group of people posing for the camera

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“This donation represents our mission to provide gently used, affordable books to consumers, and donations to our literacy partners,” said Broache. “Moreover, it fulfills Discover Books’ goal of helping children and families gain access to books.”

Discover Books began in 2003. Making books affordable and accessible to all is Discover Books’ highest priority. The company accomplishes this through resell, redistribution, and recycling books into other paper products.

Discover Books has a warehouse in Baltimore, MD where company trucks pick up surplus books from thrift stores, bookstores, libraries, and blue book collection boxes throughout the mid-Atlantic area. “We are committed to our mission and greatly appreciate the loyalty of all our partners,” said Broache. “We are thrilled to be working with the award-winning Cecil County Public Library.”

Visit www.discoverbooks.com for more information and affordable books.

Discover Books, a for-profit company, is one of the largest online used booksellers and sources of literary donations to charitable organizations in North America. Discover Books collects used books through thrift stores, library partnerships, residential pick-up operations, and book collection boxes across the U.S. The company resells, donates, or responsibly recycles used books to achieve its mission. To date, Discover Books has donated more than 12 million books to those in need and has diverted over 700 million pounds of books from landfills.

About CCPL – In 2015, Cecil County Public Library was awarded the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences National Medal, the highest recognition a library can earn.

https://www.cecil.ebranch.info/kids/1000-books-before-kindergarten

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Reading & Literacy Discovery Center study on early childhood reading. https://www.ksl.com/article/46705121/this-is-your-childs-brain-on-books-scans-show-benefit-of-reading-vs-screen-time?fbclid=IwAR2KiyapwCSLk2uSqf3_BokgYaFxOJIV9mELCNuZTNJ0PxB219vJQDRe books.com

January 17, 2020January 17, 2020 Discover Books Community Involvement|Uncategorized

The Gift of Reading

What does reading do for us? Why is there such an emphasis on reading? Reading envelopes us in words, ideas, mental images that build our intelligence and imagination. It is the foundation for knowledge and education. It opens up all possibilities and hope. Math, science, art are all propped up on the foundation of reading.

So, what happens if you can’t see? In this high-tech world, does it matter? Charlotte Cushman addresses this very issue in her article Celebrate Braille Literacy Month. Cushman’s answer is quite telling and obvious. “Is it important for a sighted child to learn to read because audible books exist?” Point taken. Everyone deserves an opportunity to read the words for themselves. This allows their minds to wrestle with the tone, voice, and emotions of the characters, which helps build empathy as well as imagination.

January is Braille Literacy Month. It is in honor of Louis Braille who was born January 4th, 1809. Who was Louis Braille? He was one of four children of Monique Braille and Simon-Rene Braille. His father was a saddler and Louis would play in his father’s workshop often. When he was three, he had an accident. He was playing with an awl trying to put it through a piece of leather and the tool slipped and hit him in one eye. They couldn’t save the eye. Within a few years, an infection in that eye spread to the good eye and Louis was completely blind. He was five years old.

Braille was lucky enough to attend one of the first schools for the blind in Paris. In 1821, Braille learned of a French Army Captain who had developed a system of communication called night writing. It was done on thick paper with dots and dashes. It allowed soldiers to feel the paper to know the message-no light necessary.

Braille learned the system but felt it was too complicated. By 15, he condensed Barbier’s 12 dots into 6 and found a way to use a 6-dot cell in a fingertip size area. By 1829, he published his system which included symbols for mathematics and music. Braille was offered a professorship where he taught history, geometry, and algebra. He was an accomplished musician as well. He died young at 43 years of age in 1852.

The system wasn’t accepted by academia at first and the blind were forced to learn it on their own. It was a few years after his death that his system was accepted by the Royal Academy and the French government. He became a national hero. (They even exhumed his body to move it to have it buried in the Pantheon in Paris with other national heroes.)

Learning sign language is encouraged at most schools, but it is rare to find a public school encouraging students to learn braille unless they are blind. DiscoverBooks.com invites you this month to discover a new skill, a new idea, or even a new way to serve. Discover more about Louis Braille’s story or decide to learn to read Braille.

Save 10% off your entire order by using coupon code BRAILLE10 at checkout. This coupon is good until 1/31/2020.

November 27, 2019November 27, 2019 Discover Books Booklist|Books & Movies|Childrens|Uncategorized

Where Did Walt Disney Get His Ideas?

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Default.asp

Where did Walt Disney get his ideas? Books of course! He was a creative genius who brought hundreds of stories to life through his animated art. The majority of his movies were based or loosely based on books and historical stories. Great books make great movies. Animation made the stories and characters come alive. He enchanted us all. Disney magic revived stories and fairy tales that might have been forgotten. Disney was drawn by each story’s magic and created his version of it to strike a chord with the inner child in everyone.

Disney’s whole career was about creating magic for his “guests”. Whether it was a movie, t.v show, or theme park, he focused on the magic within the story. He wasn’t just about sitting in front of a screen. He wanted families to spend quality time together. Therefore, every movie produced created a Disney book. His published books were the mechanism to bring about great family read along. Do you remember your first Disney book?

We carry a huge selection of Disney Books at discoverbooks.com where you can Let the Stories Live On.

Disney’s first book, which was The Adventures of Mickey Mouse, was published in 1931. (We carry the 50th Birthday Edition.) Disney continues to publish books to inspire the kid in all of us. Find your childhood favorite and Let the Stories Live On at discoverbooks.com

How many of these books have you read? Did the movie motivate you to read the book or vice versa? How many more books became Disney movies? Can you name them? Find these and many more at discoverbooks.com. The list below is just a sampling of the 100’s of Disney books we have available on our site. Doing a site search will bring up more options. Happy Searching! Let the Stories Live On.

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=snow%20white

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=pinocchio

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=cinderella

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=robin%20hood

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=101%20dalmatians

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=the%20little%20mermaid

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=jungle%20book

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=fox%20and%20the%20hound

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=mary%20poppins

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=mulan

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=peter%20pan

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=bambi

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=beauty%20and%20the%20beast

https://www.discoverbooks.com/fiction-s/2116.htm?searching=Y&search=snow%20queen

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=lady%20and%20the%20tramp

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=hunchback%20of%20notre%20dame

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=james%20and%20the%20giant%20peach

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=rescuers

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=hercules

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=winnie%20the%20pooh

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=sleeping%20beauty

https://www.discoverbooks.com/fiction-s/2116.htm?searching=Y&search=the%20sword%20and%20the%20stone

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Childrens-Books-s/1980.htm?searching=Y&search=alice%20in%20wonderland

Discover books offers 5- packs of Disney’s Little Golden Books for $5.20. These are perfect gifts for your class or neighborhood children.

https://www.discoverbooks.com/Specials-Bundle-and-Save-s/2452.htm

October 21, 2019October 21, 2019 Discover Books Uncategorized

Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula

Who is Bela Lugosi?

Bela Lugosi celebrates his 137th birthday or he would have if he wasn’t dead (Bela Lugosi is Dead Bauhaus-1980 English rock band album)( not to be confused with the German School of Art Bauhaus). He was a Hungarian – American actor, who brought Bram Stoker’s Dracula alive on screen in 1931. He had begun his acting career in Hungary, then Germany, and finally America. His heavy Eastern European accent landed him the role of Count Dracula. Unfortunately, his accent kept him typecast for most of his career.

“Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make!
Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Bela Lugosi’s performance was legendary and put his name on the Hollywood Star Walk. He made Count Dracula real for the audience and further influenced the gothic literature movement. A rush to produce more gothic movies in Hollywood had begun. Bela Lugosi’s story is worth living on. Find these books at: https://www.discoverbooks.com/searchresults.asp?Search=bela+lugosi

https://www.discoverbooks.com/searchresults.asp?Search=bela+lugosi

“How good and thoughtful he is; the world seems full of good men–even if there are monsters in it.” Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Before Bela Lugosi, there was the Irish author Bram Stoker. He is the mastermind behind the gothic vampire Dracula. Stoker lived in England and was personal assistant to English actor Henry Irving. Stoker was the business manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London. He enjoyed the company of many famous authors because of his connection with Irving, including Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

“There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the light of all lights.” Bram Stoker’s Dracula

The book Dracula is considered one of the greatest vampire novels of all times. It brings the story of Jonathan Harker’s journey to Eastern Europe to life. Harker is an English lawyer who travels to oversee a real estate transaction with Count Dracula at his castle. Harker soon realizes he is in a state of confinement at the castle. Young female vampires come on the scene and. . . No Spoilers here. Buy a copy today. There are wonderful quotes throughout the book. There is a reason it is considered a classic.

The most interesting fact is Stoker never visited Eastern Europe. EVER! Stoker met Ármin Vámbéry, a Slovak-Jewish writer and listened intensely to his stories of the Carpathian Mountains. It is believed Count Dracula came from these tales. How did he write about a place he never saw? He read and studied. He combed through countless (like the play on words) Eastern European folktales looking for vampire stories. (Later some speculated the story was based on Vlad III Dracula, but the original notes don’t support that idea.) The original has been imitated many times now with even comic books using Count Dracula, but the original by Bram Stoker is a must-read classic for all genre readers.

“Remember my friend, that knowledge is stronger than memory, and we should not trust the weaker” Bram Stoker’s Dracula

“Do you not think that there are things which you cannot understand, and yet which are; that some people see things that others cannot? But there are things old and new which must not be contemplate by men´s eyes, because they know -or think they know- some things which other men have told them. Ah, it is the fault of our science that it wants to explain all; and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain.” Bram Stoker’s Dracula

“Welcome to my house! Enter freely. Go safely, and leave something of the happiness you bring.” Bram Stoker’s Dracula

“Ah, it is the fault of our science that it wants to explain all; and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain.” Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Shop Now to Enjoy on Halloween https://www.discoverbooks.com/searchresults.asp?Search=dracula

October 3, 2019October 3, 2019 Discover Books Childrens|Uncategorized

This Halloween – Books Not Candy

Halloween. The day where children dress up in costumes and go door to door asking for treats. The day where the average child consumes around 3 cups or 7,000 calories of candy. Did that catch your attention? Just for comparison sake, that is the same as eating 13 Big Macs. Consider how many days they continue to consume this much candy.

Discover Books wants to help. Books Not Candy. We sell children’s book bundles ranging from $5.20 to $11.00. We know for most people, giving out 100’s of books isn’t feasible, but giving 10-20 books is a start. We have bundle packs of Goosebumps, Dr. Seuss, Clifford, Disney Golden Books, Pinkalicious, Magic Tree House, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Beverly Cleary, and Captain Underpants. Start a new trend – BOOKS NOT CANDY. Together we can not only help reduce the amount of sugar children eat but also give a child the gift of LITERACY. Order now to ensure delivery for Halloween.

https://www.discoverbooks.com/product-p/db00005.htm

DAILY SUGAR CONSUMPTION

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the Union of Concerned Scientists notes “that American children between the ages of 2 and 19 consumed 124 grams of sugar, or 29 teaspoons, every day. Teenage boys in particular (age 12-19) consume an average of 161 grams—or nearly three-quarters of a cup—of sugar daily.” The American Heart Association recommends for children 2 to 18 is 25 grams of sugar. This daily number combined with the increased intake on Halloween is cause for alarm. Even small steps are helpful.

DAILY READING HABITS

The average 8-12 year old spends 6-9 hours on media and technology a day. That is longer than they spend in school. Even more discouraging is the fact, they spend on average less than 10 minutes a day reading. Reading exposes one to different points of view, different cultures, ideas, and engages the mind and imagination in a way technology can’t match. Encourage your children, yourself, and those in your circle of influence to spend 30 minutes each day disconnected from gadgets reading a real book.

The benefits of switching 30 minutes of technology time to true reading time are unfathomable. One benefit is the gift of focus or attention. When scrolling through endless content online, we aren’t necessarily engaged or focused. When we read, it trains our brains to be present even as our minds create the pictures in our heads. It takes focus to see the words, create the concepts, and process the meaning of the story. In short, we are exercising our brains.

INVITATION TO ACT

We invite you again to begin a new tradition this Halloween – Books Not Candy. We’d love to hear your stories as you share the gift of literacy this HALLOWEEN. LET THE STORIES LIVE ON.

September 24, 2019September 24, 2019 Discover Books Uncategorized

Fall Into a New Habit

The fall equinox is the marking point where light and darkness, day and night are equally balanced. One could say, “It’s all downhill from here,” as the daylight fades minute by minute for the next 3 months.

Perhaps, there is a better way to look at it. Using the equinox, as a mile marker in the year to FALL into NEW HABITS. With the evenings becoming longer, take advantage of it. Find time for you. Find time for family.

RELAX for 30 minutes each night without the aid of an electronic device. Completely shut down the world of electronics, don’t check your phone, email, or stream your favorite episode. There are many reasons to disconnect and read. Yale University School of Public Health had this to say: “Reading can make you think and laugh; it can inspire and teach. … When researchers at Yale University School of Public Health analyzed data from more than 3,600 adults age 50 and older, they found that those who read books for 3½ hours a week—or 30 minutes a day—lived about two years longer than their non-reading peers.” Who doesn’t want to live longer? (https://www.healthination.com/health/benefits-of-reading) Read this article for more health benefits.

ENGAGE with the story. Put yourself in it. Take notes. Ask questions. What does the author want you to know? What is the author hiding? Where is this leading? The more one engages, the more one discovers. The characters, plot, climax, denouement all reveal bits of the beliefs or dreams hidden within the story by the author for you to discover. Engage in the process of discovery.

ACQUAINT yourself with the characters, location, idea of the book. Meeting new people, places, and ideas stimulates the mind as we work through the difficulties of reality. Can’t escape on a vacation? Take a book in hand and acclimate yourself into a new world, new time, with new people. Your mind paints the scenery, faces, costumes, landscape that it encounters in the stories you read. This escape reduces stress and anxiety. Take time to RELAX and ENGAGE daily.

DISCOVER new stories, people, customs, lands, and ideas. The gift of discovery is one of the greatest gifts given to humanity. Thinking through complex issues and ideas helps us grow. When they are contained within a story, they provide an opportunity to problem solve and succeed without the consequences of reality. It is a gift to read and discover and see through new lenses.

Understanding new ideas, people, and the complex world around us requires one to RELAX, ENGAGE, ACQUAINT, and DISCOVER for yourself. This fall balance your life by taking time to R.E.A.D. Find a story at Discoverbooks.com.

This fall start a new habit. Help those you love to start a new habit. Take 15-30 minutes daily and become one with a new story. Let us help you by offering 15% off all books USE COUPON CODE FALL2019 at checkout AND remember SHIPPING is on us too! FREE SHIPPING ALWAYS.

September 18, 2019September 18, 2019 Discover Books Books & Movies|Uncategorized

Books to Film

September brings cooler nights and shorter days. Have you noticed the change? This September, the big screen brings several books to the movies. Whether you enjoy the change from book to film is a personal battle.

Most of the time, the book delves deeper into the characters, details, plot because they aren’t limited by time, only pages. Images come alive in your mind and intertwine with your experiences. You and the author share a sacred moment as you journey mind to mind through the pages.

“But the moon was so large and clear through the uncurtained window that it made me think instead of a story my mother had told me, about driving to horse shows with her mother and father in the back seat of their old Buick when she was little. “It was a lot of traveling—ten hours sometimes through hard country. Ferris wheels, rodeo rings with sawdust, everything smelled like popcorn and horse manure. One night we were in San Antonio, and I was having a bit of a melt-down—wanting my own room, you know, my dog, my own bed—and Daddy lifted me up on the fairgrounds and told me to look at the moon. ‘When you feel homesick,’ he said, ‘just look up. Because the moon is the same wherever you go.’ So after he died, and I had to go to Aunt Bess—I mean, even now, in the city, when I see a full moon, it’s like he’s telling me not to look back or feel sad about things, that home is wherever I am.” She kissed me on the nose. “Or where you are, puppy. The center of my earth is you.” Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch

The words paint a clear vision in one’s mind, and you can relate to the character. The words take you to your father, mother, room, etc. In film form this interaction might take a minute or less. Perhaps, it won’t make the final cut. Either way, the film isn’t the same. It isn’t your father entering your mind; it’s the actor. The book takes you to your safe place, while the movie creates a new image of a safe place.

The movie just hit theaters this week, so there is time to still read the book. Discover Donna Tartt’s talent for creating dramatic images by reading one of her novels today.

Cinematography is powerful, no doubt. It leaves one breathless at times and a picture is worth a thousand words. The problem is – it isn’t your picture. It is the director’s picture and/or interpretation. That’s the biggest difference between reading and watching. Reading allows you to be involved in the creation of the picture. The author lays the details out for you, but your mind fashions the image.

Downton Abbey fans have been waiting anxiously for the arrival of the new film which hits theaters September 20, 2019. However, what most fans don’t know is Downton Abbey was inspired by a book by Gail MacColl and Carol Wallace written in 1989. The book is called To Marry an English Lord. According to Wallace, the film begins where the book ends. It is, if you will, the back story of Cora and Lord Crawley’s introduction, courtship, and marriage. As you wait patiently (okay not so patiently) for September 20, enjoy the rest of the story of Cora and Robert Crawley by reading the book.

Stephen King is a master at creating suspenseful and supernatural scenes to scare the toughest of reader. King brings our worst what-if scenarios into a realistic plot. That’s what is so terrifying. You have a fear, he makes it realistic. King’s IT was first published in 1986 and the first film came out in a mini-series form in 1990. It became a film in 2017 with the final part of the story hitting the big screen September 9th, 2019. If you haven’t read IT, or you need a refresher, grab a copy while the movie is still in theaters.

“Calling it a simple schoolgirl crush was like saying a Rolls-Royce was a vehicle with four wheels, something like a hay-wagon. She did not giggle wildly and blush when she saw him, nor did she chalk his name on trees or write it on the walls of the Kissing Bridge. She simply lived with his face in her heart all the time, a kind of sweet, hurtful ache. She would have died for him..”
― Stephen King, It

September 11, 2019September 11, 2019 Discover Books Author B-Day|Uncategorized

Happy Birthday

TO SHOW OUR APPRECIATION WE ARE OFFERING 15% OFF BOOKS THIS WEEK WITH COUPON CODE HAPPYBIRTHDAY2019. Help bring literacy to all children: Read to a child today.

September 3, 2019September 3, 2019 Discover Books Author Highlight|Book Review|Classics|Uncategorized

Tribute to J.R.R Tolkien

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” -The Fellowship of the Ring J.R.R. Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien chose to spend his time enlightening the imaginations of millions of readers throughout the world. He created worlds of his own and left part of himself on this earth contained within his stories.

Yesterday marked the 46th anniversary of the death of this creative soul. His life experiences and beliefs are captured in print forever. All we need to do is open our minds to the worlds he shaped to help us better understand how to live in this world.

Tolkien’s book(s) beckon us to move forward against all adversity, trials, and self-doubt. The journey is before us every day and we can rise to the challenge of it and face it with courage. #Letthestoriesliveon

Tolkien’s life represents this concept. His life was marked with adversity from a young age. First, when his father died and left the family with no income. His mother, brother, and self moved in with his mother’s family in Birmingham England. His mother taught him at home which allowed him to explore subjects he loved such as botany, nature, languages, and fairy-tales. He loved to read George MacDonald and Andrew Lang (wikipedia) Second, when at twelve years of age, his dear mother passed.

During World War I, he was a second lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers. He had already married Edith Bratt by this time. The separation was long and hard as it was for many during that time. Life was a journey and he was facing it head on.

September 21, 1937 marks the publication day of his first novel The Hobbit. It is here, we begin the matter of fact journey into mythical creatures and beings not yet imagined. The world was suffering from the great depression, the Hindenburg disaster, and the dust bowl not to mention Hitler was setting the stage for Germany’s world domination campaign. The campaign against the Jewish people was just beginning as Tolkien introduced his imaginary world with Bilbo, Gandalf, and the dwarves to mention a few. #Letthesstoriesliveon

Join us on a quest to remember and honor this creative mind by reading either again or for the first time one of his fantasy novels. Perhaps, you haven’t read his commentary on Beowulf and would enjoy it. Try a book about Tolkien or his worlds. Find them all at Discover Books. Use Coupon Code Tolkien2019 at checkout for a 15% discount on all books. Good until 9/8/2019.

August 30, 2019August 31, 2019 Discover Books Uncategorized

Hello Labor Day

Labor Day. The day of sales. The transitional end of summer vacation. The call to go one last time to the beach, camping, boating, or to host a barbecue. The signal to get serious in your studies. The herald of fall, football, school, and cozy blanket weather. But what does it mean? Who started it? What exactly are we celebrating?

Labor Day begins with the industrial revolution and the moving away from the homestead into the city for work. It ends with you and how you celebrate your opportunities for employment. It’s more than just a holiday. It’s a day about people, labor, history, industry, and law. It’s about Americans who believed in living life and not just surviving. #Letthestoriesliveon

I’m a people person. I like to understand and comprehend how people think, live, feel, and express themselves in all times. As humans, we analyze, categorize thoughts and ideas as we watch and learn about people. Let’s begin our journey to learn together. #Letthestoriesliveon

From the Lewis Hine's Collection Library of Congress. In 1954 the Library received the records of the National Child Labor Committee, . . . 350 negatives by Lewis Hine. In giving the collection to the Library, the NCLC stipulated that "There will be no restrictions of any kind on your use of the Hine photographic material." — Library of Congress Lewis Hines Collection

Labor Day is an opportunity to glimpse back through history to a time when industry was king. People flocked to it. Families worked to create it with little in return. As we turn back time, we see fathers with large families laboring in dirty, dim factories or mines to bring something, anything home to their families. Mothers struggling to keep house and a job that required 12+ hours a day, 7 days a week. Children as young as four crowded into factories because they were cheap labor. We see the business owners trying to balance the cost of business with profits.

Library of Congress Lewis Hine Collection

We see life. Life in a different era. We struggle not to judge, but use it as an example for our own lives. Gratitude. Gratitude for those who risked everything to change the system. Men like Peter J. McGuire and Matthew Maguire, who are accredited with bringing us what is now known as Labor Day which was established as a federal law 1894. A day for celebrating the accomplishments of American workers.

Lives were altered, ended, supported, and made throughout the history of the industrial revolution. Learning about those lives and their impact on history helps us develop an understanding of the many blessings we have because of those who came before, and the legacy we want to leave for those who come after. #Letthestoriesliveon

Book Recommendations for your personal journey through the industrial revolution through the campaign to better conditions for workers and the enactment of the LABOR DAY HOLIDAY. Enjoy your long weekend. (And thank you to those who will work during the holiday to keep us safe and comfortable.) Use code LABOR19 at checkout for a 15% discount.